July 24, 2022Miles 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.
- Premature Burial, Siouxsie and the Banshees
- Baby Doll, Teenage and the Jerks
- Leave My House, Chickita
- Drop the Bomb, Harry Pussy
- Sex Problem, Harry Pussy
- I’m Shy, Numbers
- Warm Leatherette, Suzi Quatro
- Kaltes Klares Wasser, Chicks on Speed
- Taste, Magik Markers
- Karen Hates the Forest, Hype Williams
- Another Man (Short Version), Barbara Mason
- Golosa, Coqueta
- Keep It, ESG
- Private Life, Grace Jones
- Hamburger Lady, Throbbing Gristle
- How to Wire Wrap a Stone, Odwalla88
- Pot au Feu, Delia Derbyshire
- Rakata, Arca
- Sorry Bro (Lil Mariko remix), Dorian Electra
- Ice Breaker, Cowgirl Clue
- Smack Jack, Nina Hagen
- Green Eyes, Suburban Lawns
- Beyond and Back, X
- Army Dreamers, Kate Bush
- Willow’s Song, Paul Giovanni
- The Squirrel Is a Funny Thing, Dorothy Carter
- Bad Girl, Shirley Collins & Davey Graham
- Saving Myself for Jesus, Birdcloud
- Children of Darkness, Mimi & Richard Farina
- Deep River, Marian Anderson
- Coma Baby, Nicole Dollanger
- Agent Orange, Tori Amos
- Today, Jefferson Airplane
- Komodo, Ok Lou & Sega Bodega
- Live to Tell, Madonna
- Everything Is Spoilt by Use, Ice Choir with Caroline Polachek
- Giving You the Best that I Got, Anita Baker
- I Can’t Make You Love Me, Bonnie Rait
- Song to the Siren, This Mortal Coil mashup with I Need You Tonight, ZZ Top
- 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