From Off the Rez to Off the Hook! Douglas Miles and Apache Skateboards

There are a number of ways in which one can contextualize the work of Douglas Miles. These contexts, however, will inevitably overlap, shift around, and ultimately prove inadequate for comprehending an artistic phenomenon that simultaneously is grounded in Arizona's Indigenous communities and reflects ideas and influences from a broad horizon. Miles is concurrently relevant to American Indian art, pop art, skateboarding, street art, guerilla art, photography, video, and mixed media. He is also a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe of Arizona (in addition to being Gila River Pima) and a trained artist whose work is well known and respected across a diverse spectrum of audiences. Unsurprisingly, Miles actively resists labeling his work as "Indian art," which connects him to a storied tradition among Indigenous artists going back to Oscar Howe and George Morrison, who sought vigorously to dispense with the endemic limitations of ethnic categories.