18 Apr 2006

In the Realms of the Mind and the Eyes

By Steve Banks
On a white pedestal sits a ring of smaller eggs encircling a much larger egg. Their surfaces are covered with painting that is precise and utilizes geometric patterns, dots, and leaf/sprout motifs with a color sensibility reminiscent of old wrapping paper.
04 Apr 2006

Satisfying an Appetite for Charisma

By Steve Banks
A mighty princess constructed from painted nails, fabric, and costume jewelry stands proudly with her rusted sword-like scepter overhead. Her spontaneous presence tells us that she is the product of a visually inquisitive soul with a sincere enthusiasm for image making.
28 Mar 2006

Triumph of the Spirit

By Steve Banks
The latest exhibit at the Figge Art Museum, Migration of the Spirit, creates an unsettling mood that is simultaneously full of melancholy and levity. The exhibit, which runs through April 16, is a powerful show that explores a tragic history through the vision of Miami-based artist Edouard Duval-Carrié.
21 Mar 2006

Exhibit Explores the Power of Words in Visual Art

By Steve Banks
Editor's note: Steve Banks served as one of four jurors for this exhibit. Image & Word, the latest show at Quad City Arts, is a comfortably diverse exploration of the uses of text and its relationship with and within images.
14 Mar 2006

A Firecracker of Essence and Distillation

By Steve Banks
The current solo show by Emily Christensen is a little visual firecracker that delivers a bang that will leave your eyes happily ringing long after you see the work. The show is tucked away on the second floor of Bucktown Center for the Arts in the doe Gallery and is up through March 25.
28 Feb 2006

A Near-Magical Harsh Realm

By Steve Banks
Installation art is one of the trickiest feats of alchemy an artist can attempt. When three artists collaborate on an installation, their strange process can be sensory gold or visual sludge begging to be flushed.
31 Jan 2006

Exhibit Features Powerful, Energized Groupings

By Steve Banks
The current exhibit at Quad City Arts shows that sometimes a house is not just a house. Running through February 17, the exhibit features four artists whose works are often energized by their context. The frame of a single residential structure plays off - and draws meaning from - a different piece featuring 15 similar structures, for example, while the distinctive portraits of another artist resonate because of the collection of portraits.
27 Dec 2005

The Power of Pigment á la Mode (Gallery)

By Steve Banks
This Friday is the grand-opening reception for the area's newest art experience, the remodeled Mode Art Gallery located in the Bayer Building at 226 West Third Street in downtown Davenport. The opening reception, starting at 5 p.
13 Dec 2005

A Great Coming-of-Age Story

By Steve Banks
The first artwork that could truly be described as "American" grew up in a highly charged age of efficiency, modernization, innovation, and invention. America was a newly emerging world power with a fresh understanding of and appreciation for industry, along with the possibilities of technology, wealth, and a new aesthetic toward art.
06 Dec 2005

Exploring the Landscape, Degree by Degree

By Steve Banks
If you have not made the time to see 41°/90° at the Figge Museum yet, you have until this weekend to catch an enjoyably diverse group of artists, their explorations with the landscape, and our relationships with it.

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