In the charged atmosphere of Art Basel Miami 2023, amidst a sea of creativity, one artist’s work stopped us in our tracks. Trinidad-born, Los Angeles-based artist Miles Regis spoke to us in the language of movement, history, and unapologetic truth. His canvases—alive with rich textures, bold colors, and layered narratives—reflected not just the artist's hand but the pulse of a people. Our spirits connected in that moment. A year later, we found ourselves together at a Who Has It's gallery at Center Staging in LA, where Regis unveiled a number of pieces in his collection backed by a jazz ensemble. In Regis, we find an artist who doesn’t just create; he converses, challenges, and awakens.
A Tapestry of Culture and Expression
Regis’s work is a visual and emotional quilt, stitching together influences from his Caribbean roots with the lived realities of a global Black experience. His mixed-media approach, incorporating paint, textiles, and repurposed materials, is more than an aesthetic choice—it is an act of preservation and reinvention. Each stroke and stitch tells a story of identity, resilience, and resistance, reminding us that art is not separate from life but woven into its very fabric.
His ability to move seamlessly between abstraction and figuration mirrors the duality many experience—being seen yet unseen, present yet overlooked. Through his work, Regis amplifies the voices of those too often drowned out, bringing a depth to his storytelling that speaks across cultures and generations.
Love, Struggle, and the Power of Resistance
To witness a Miles Regis piece is to engage with history—both its scars and its triumphs. His work captures the unbreakable spirit of those who have fought and continue to fight for justice. Themes of love and struggle dance together on his canvases, embodying both the pain of oppression and the joy of survival.
Regis does not shy away from the weight of the past or the urgency of the present. His art explores issues of race, freedom, migration, and identity, inviting viewers to step into the emotions embedded in every line and color. But beyond protest, his work celebrates—celebrates the richness of culture, the persistence of hope, and the undeniable beauty of human connection.
The Miles Regis Impact: An Invitation to Engage
Our meeting with Miles Regis at Art Basel was more than a moment—it was an initiation into a larger dialogue. His work does not sit quietly in galleries; it moves through communities, shaping perspectives and fostering change. In Regis’s art, we see echoes of our own mission at Unknown Union—to honor tradition while forging new paths, to tell stories that matter, and to create in a way that connects us all.
Miles Regis is not just an artist. He is a griot, a historian, and a visionary. His work is a call to feel, to reflect, and most importantly, to act. And that is a message we can all carry forward.
Follow Miles' journey @milesregis
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