All images: Banks Violette, installation view, 2012, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, images courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe, Los Angeles.
Banks Violette’s first solo-show in Los Angeles opened last week at Blum & Poe. Violette is known for creating Minimalist work with industrial materials like steel, glass, aluminum, and neon tubing. The exhibition is primarily in black and white with a few instances of grey and rust. It highlights his recent infatuation with NASCAR symbols and icons, seen in his monumental sculpture of the number 88 (an homage to Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) and a graphite drawing of an upside-down American flag. A fractured highway barricade cast in black references the reason why many people watch NASCAR: a chance to see a multi-car, explosive crash. But rendered in black and splintered cleanly, the volatile excitement of a collision just isn’t felt.
The show is on view through February 11, 2012.
