Jesse Mireles
As a visual artist, Jesse Mireles is a painter, a printmaker and graphic designer. He was born in Mexico but grew up in Toledo. He studied art and graphic design in high school; painting, graphics and printmaking at the University of Toledo. Art has been his life’s work, his recreation, his sanctuary. It has been his livelihood, primarily as a graphic designer, an art form that has honored him with numerous national and international awards.
His paintings are abstract, expressionistic and mostly non-representational. His prints and collages are graphic and figurative abstracts. With skills honed from block printing, lithography, and monotypes, Mireles applies those principles to create hand-drawn giclées that are printed with archival quality inks on fine art papers.
As a child, Mireles’ early art influences were the colorful Mexican folk art on paper, pottery and fabric that adorned his home. As a teen in search of an identity, he was inspired by the work of the great Mexican muralists, Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orosco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Later, as a young artist, he was highly attracted to European and American Expressionists. He was drawn especially to the work of German artist, Franz Marc, by Marc’s use of color and to his beautiful portrayal of the natural world.
Today, more than ever, he is influenced by the natural world around him, whether in the Great Lakes Region where he lives or places where he travels along the rugged coast of Maine, the American Southwest, Canada and his native Mexico. Everywhere are influences for new compositions. Sometimes those inspirations are in clouds or reflecting waters, but sometimes in the faces of people he meets.
As nature has profoundly influenced and inspired Mireles to paint, it is his wish that his paintings, prints and collages will help us be more aware of the wonders of our natural world and remind us to do more to protect it.
Mireles’ work has been exhibited at the Toledo Museum of Art, National Center for Nature Photography and at various exhibitions and galleries. In addition to the Toledo Museum of Art, Mireles is represented by galleries in Ohio, California, Michigan, Massachusetts and Maine. He lectures, consults and has served on design and art review panels for the Toledo Arts Commission and the Ohio Arts Council based in Columbus Ohio.
Jesse Mireles is also a guitarist and singer, songwriter with a repertoire of songs in English and Spanish. He is married to artist and writer, Allen Mireles, mother of his firstborn son, singer songwriter, Gabriel Mireles of Boston and of younger son, Alexander Mireles, a visual artist and web designer, living in Los Angeles. And, on any given day a stray cat or dog may also find itself a new member of the Mireles family.
