By Jonathan Poole
Miles Davis was born in Alton, Illinios and grew up in East St. Louis. He was
inspired to become a musician in the 1940's and received first hand education
from Charlie "Bird" Parker. The pioneer of the cool jazz era, Miles became a
world famous innovator and his work in albums such as "Bitches Brew" and "Sketches of Spain"
influenced generations of musicians.
In 1980 Miles began to focus his talent in a new direction and started seeking
expression not just through his music but also through visual art.
He began with primitive figures and then experimented in colour and composition. In contrast
to his rich formal education as a musician, Miles as an artist was mostly self-taught.
He became inspired by the Milan-based design movement known as "Memphis" whose theme was based on hot
colours and clashing shapes.
He worked under this
influence for nearly two years during which time he created a substantial
collection of work. As his work matured his direction changed with intergrating,
swirling abstracts and strong African inspired textures, filling his studio with
tribal masks and haunting images of Arican art. He was moved to incorporate the
essence of this rich imagery in his paintings.
He transformed his world of sound
into shapes and colours and worked primarily with acrylic, pastes, pencil and
markers, especially favouring large canvasses with ample space.
Kimberley Bodnar curated the first exhibition of his artwork in the United
States in 1989, followed by exhibitions in Canada, California, Japan, New York,
Switzerland, Florida and Michigan.
Jonathan Poole acquired the exclusive European rights after his death through
the Estate's lawyers. Exhibitions have been held throughout Europe and the
Middle East. He has at his gallery, Compton Cassey Gallery in the UK, a large
collection of his prints, paintings and drawings. Galleries are welcome to
contact him to see if an exhibition is available and the general public are more
than welcome to contact the gallery to purchase, acquire a catalogue or make an
appointment to view the stock.
Copyright of the Miles Davis Estate, New York.
Please contact the gallery for further details. You can view Jonathan's website for
more images of Miles' prints. A catalogue is available illustrating all prints in stock.
