Michael Banning

Gallery Affiliations: Groveland Gallery

Region: Midwest

Website: http://www.michaelbanning.com

City / State: Minneapolis, MN

My recent work in painting focuses on urban landscape. I am particularly interested in the beauty found within what is often perceived as the ugly side of our urban existence. I am drawn to the industrial corridors and abandoned neighborhoods at the "back" of the city where man-made structures and objects have been neglected, and nature, garbage, and graffiti now thrive. I see these areas as rich archaeological sites where shifts in mainstream culture have created marked changes in the environment, and where seemingly opposite ecosystems now intersect. Often wedged between forces of gentrification and sterilization on one side, and crime on the other, these intra-urban wilderness spaces offer a quiet and distant view of the inner city from within.