Neither Black Nor White
Banks Violette at Gladstone Gallery, NY
Banks Violette’s artworks can feel like they hover over a void. His installations made of salt, perspex and even mist (Not yet titled (TriStar Horse), 2008) seem to question what is authentic, real or alive, referencing pop culture, outsider art, minimalism and abstract sound in overwhelming installations where information overload results in a blackout. Often he explores a monochrome palette, noting “I'm interested in a visual language that's over-determined, exhausted, or just over burdened by ‘meaning’.” Expect his latest show, open now at New York’s Gladstone Gallery, to raise more questions than it answers.