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6/4/2005

Two solo shows

Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco

John Bankston
Henry Turmon

Bay Area artist John Bankston's exhibition will include drawings and paintings of characters acting in obscure narratives that represent and explore different aspects of masculinity. One group, Masked Mexican Wrestlers, are physical "heavies" - sensual, combative, aloof - while another group, Masked Blue Birdmen, are lightweight, hit-and-run pleasure seekers, and more cunning. The two teams interact in a "Circus in the Woods," presided over by a Ringmaster and a leather-man overseer. A group new to this series, but with a long circus tradition, is comprised of bearded ladies, perhaps a nod to superficial sexual characteristics adding a layer of complexity to aspects exhibited by the other groups. Masculine accoutrement - boots, big belt buckles, Speedos, guns, cowboy or motorcycle hats - stand alone as "male" signifiers but some incorporate mazes on their surfaces - showing endless choices or ways to go. Both drawings and paintings appear to advance action but the narratives in this new work are more abstracted than previously. There is no grand finale in Bankston's circus but the Show is a limitless, multi-layered parade of possibilities.

Whereas Bankston's works appear as pages from coloring books, Henry Turmon's new sculptures focus on the physical characteristics of books. As with past pieces, the new objects reflect all things that interest him - enigmatic, compelling objects, family, arcane systems of knowledge, scientific methods. The focus on books is not as literal manuscripts but as shapes that represent "volumes" of information or records of time. There is neither text nor a specific typography on the bookish forms; they are open - revealing nothing - or closed - holding unknown promise. Whether sitting singly or stacked, the repeated shapes suggest an accumulation of something; viewers may meditate on or imagine what secret narratives, instructions, or histories lay hidden there. Along with the book shapes, will be a series of trompe l'oeil dress shirts of carved wood. Neatly folded and presented on pedestals, the shirts, too, become signifiers - part of a businessman's power suit, a work shirt ready to be donned and a day begun, or a tuxedo shirt - part of the social fabric that separates humans from the unclothed.

Reception: Thursday, April 7, 5:30 - 7:30pm

Rena Bransten Gallery
77 Geary Street
San Francisco
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 10:30am to 5:30pm and Saturdays 11am to 5pm

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