Photo c/o Dunes July 24, 2022
Miles Huston

Artist Miles Huston stopped by the Selection Committee Radio Show shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade—and paid tribute to women who rock. We talk about the Punk/Riot Grrl scene in Boston and how important the radical bookstore, the Lucy Parsons Center, was to Miles during his college years. And we learn how converting an old school bus to run on cooking oil led to Miles’ interest in the intersection of activism, identity, and trying to make a living.

We talk a little bit about the New York art world and its politics, including the infamous 2022 summer group show at O’Flaherty’s, and consider what it means to make artwork in a world where clear answers seem impossible. Miles shares stories of his friend Jenni Crain, who died from Covid, her posthumous show at Gordon Robichaux, and what he and her family and friends are doing to keep her legacy alive.

We learn about how Miles’ work in a community garden led to a vast collection of watering cans and an obsession with agriculture and farm policy. These both form the backbone of his recent show at Gordon Robichaux, Cinderella Had a Farm.

This is a deep and moving show with an incredibly sensitive man.

Donations to the Jenni Crain Foundation can be made here.




Complete playlist below; tracks in yellow were cut for time.

  1. Premature Burial, Siouxsie and the Banshees
  2. Baby Doll, Teenage and the Jerks
  3. Leave My House, Chickita
  4. Drop the Bomb, Harry Pussy
  5. Sex Problem, Harry Pussy
  6. I’m Shy, Numbers
  7. Warm Leatherette, Suzi Quatro
  8. Kaltes Klares Wasser, Chicks on Speed
  9. Taste, Magik Markers
  10. Karen Hates the Forest, Hype Williams
  11. Another Man (Short Version), Barbara Mason 
  12. Golosa, Coqueta
  13. Keep It, ESG
  14. Private Life, Grace Jones
  15. Hamburger Lady, Throbbing Gristle
  16. How to Wire Wrap a Stone, Odwalla88
  17. Pot au Feu, Delia Derbyshire
  18. Rakata, Arca
  19. Sorry Bro (Lil Mariko remix), Dorian Electra
  20. Ice Breaker, Cowgirl Clue
  21. Smack Jack, Nina Hagen
  22. Green Eyes, Suburban Lawns
  23. Beyond and Back, X
  24. Army Dreamers, Kate Bush
  25. Willow’s Song, Paul Giovanni
  26. The Squirrel Is a Funny Thing, Dorothy Carter
  27. Bad Girl, Shirley Collins & Davey Graham
  28. Saving Myself for Jesus, Birdcloud
  29. Children of Darkness, Mimi & Richard Farina
  30. Deep River, Marian Anderson
  31. Coma Baby, Nicole Dollanger
  32. Agent Orange, Tori Amos
  33. Today, Jefferson Airplane
  34. Komodo, Ok Lou & Sega Bodega
  35. Live to Tell, Madonna
  36. Everything Is Spoilt by Use, Ice Choir with Caroline Polachek
  37. Giving You the Best that I Got, Anita Baker
  38. I Can’t Make You Love Me, Bonnie Rait
  39. Song to the Siren, This Mortal Coil mashup with I Need You Tonight, ZZ Top
  40. Trees and Flowers, Strawberry Switchblade

Miles Huston (b. 1981, Cambridge, MA) is a Jersey City–based artist, designer, and curator. He holds an MFA from Yale University. He has had solo and group shows most recently at Dunes, Portland ME; Reyes Projects, Detroit; Gordon Robichaux, New York (two-person with Jenni Crain); Princess, New York; Adler Beatty, New York; Cave, Detroit; Night Gallery, Los Angeles; and Room East, New York. Recent curatorial projects include “This Must Be the Place” at 55 Walker, New York (co-curated with Jenni Crain); "Black Cherokee" at Room East, New York; "Walk Artisanal" in Los Angeles; and "Clorox Envy" in Brooklyn, NY. Huston cofounded the artist-run space KNOWMOREGAMES and is a member of the Gryorgy Kepes Panel Committee in Wellesley, MA