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by Artist (54)
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To the Island
2002
66 x 60 in. (167.64 x 152.4 cm)
John Bankston (Benton Harbor, MI, 1963 - ) Primary
Renegade Humor (2012)
Using the benign format of a coloring-book page, John Bankston mines traditions of fantasy and storytelling to raise issues of race, power, identity, and sexuality. His painterly brushstrokes both obey and ignore the black contour lines that carve out the story. For Bankston, the effort of “staying within the lines” implies conformity and assimilation: “The images in the work are about people who have redrawn personal boundaries and have ‘colored’ themselves outside the lines of received cultural norms. It is my hope that the viewer will be able to step into this fantasy world and for a moment live life ‘colored’ outside the lines.” Bankston relates the transformative moment when crayon is put to page and the color-less, mass-produced image becomes a record of personal expression and awareness of self and individuality.
Renegade Humor, February 3, 2012 - July 8, 2012, New Wing, Second Floor, Central Skylight and South Metro A Galleries, San José Museum of Art.
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by Artist (54)
To the Island
Painting
200266 x 60 in. (167.64 x 152.4 cm)
John Bankston (Benton Harbor, MI, 1963 - ) Primary
Object Type: Painting
Medium and Support: Oil on linen
Credit Line: Gift of Rena Bransten
Accession Number: 2010.19
SJMA Label Text
Renegade Humor (2012)
Using the benign format of a coloring-book page, John Bankston mines traditions of fantasy and storytelling to raise issues of race, power, identity, and sexuality. His painterly brushstrokes both obey and ignore the black contour lines that carve out the story. For Bankston, the effort of “staying within the lines” implies conformity and assimilation: “The images in the work are about people who have redrawn personal boundaries and have ‘colored’ themselves outside the lines of received cultural norms. It is my hope that the viewer will be able to step into this fantasy world and for a moment live life ‘colored’ outside the lines.” Bankston relates the transformative moment when crayon is put to page and the color-less, mass-produced image becomes a record of personal expression and awareness of self and individuality.
Exhibition
Renegade Humor, February 3, 2012 - July 8, 2012, New Wing, Second Floor, Central Skylight and South Metro A Galleries, San José Museum of Art.
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Bibliography List
This object has the following bibliographic references: - Fifty Years of Bay Area Art: The SECA Awards. Fifty Years of Bay Area Art: The SECA Awards San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. San Francisco, CA, 2011
Page Number: 112
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