Miles Regis: Bearing Light: 251 West 19th Street, New York

New York – Ethan Cohen Gallery is pleased to present Miles Regis: Bearing Light, the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery.

At a moment when the noise of world events feels at an all-time high, Miles Regis turns to painting as a site of clarity and renewal. Rooted in his Trinidadian heritage and expanded by a global curiosity, Regis channels experience into color, gesture, and symbol. His canvases invite us to release frustration through beauty, arriving at a universal truth: the only thing worth living for is love, and with it, the joy that follows.

Regis’ symbolic language depicts the human form in both fluid and sharply defined ways. Figures are threaded through with signs that suggest unseen pathways, connecting souls and tracing their journeys. In these compositions, Regis advocates unity and a consciousness of love; his paintings become both mirrors and maps, reflecting lived experience while guiding us toward collective possibility.

This exhibition marks a return to painting as the primary medium of Regis’ practice. Known for integrating textiles and collage in past bodies of work, here he focuses on canvas and brush, bringing the immediacy of paint to the forefront. The result is an intensity of presence that underscores both the physical act of making and the emotional resonance of each piece. At the heart of the exhibition is Community - A Collective Love, 2022, a monumental painting that embodies Regis’ vision of shared strength and enduring hope.

Bearing Light coincides with Regis’ project Safe Space at Lincoln Center in New York, an augmented reality commission accessible from June 14 through October 14, 2025. That immersive experience transforms public space through sound, color, and animation. In contrast, Ethan Cohen Gallery offers a space to encounter the artist’s work in its most essential form: painting.

As an extension of the exhibition, Ethan Cohen Gallery also presents an AR-enabled wallpaper installation of Regis’ Love Brings Us Together, created in partnership with Area Environments. This interactive work, together with select paintings, can be experienced in the gallery and is available for purchase at AreaEnvironments.com.

The exhibition opens September 18 with a reception from 6–8 pm, and will remain on view through October 4 during regular gallery hours, Tuesday through Saturday, 11 am–6 pm.