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Fiona Banner (born 1966), also known as The Vanity Press, is a British artist. Her work encompasses sculpture, drawing, installation and text, and demonstrates a long-standing fascination with the emblem of fighter aircraft and their role within culture and especially as presented on film. She is well known for her early works in the form of 'wordscapes', written transcriptions of the frame-by-frame action in Hollywood war films, including
Top Gun ''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired ...
and
Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American psychological epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkn ...
. Her work has been exhibited in prominent international venues such as the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, New York and
Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal ...
, London. Banner was shortlisted for the
Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...
in 2002.


Life

Fiona Banner was born on Merseyside,
North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...
in 1966. She studied at
Kingston University Kingston University London is a Public university, public research university located within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, in South London, South West London, England. Its roots go back to the Kingston Technical Institute, founded ...
and completed her MA at Goldsmiths College of Art in 1993. The next year she held her first solo exhibition at City Racing.Stonard, John-Paul
"Fiona Banner"
Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
from text of
Grove Art Online ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...
, 10 December 2000. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
Since graduating from Goldsmiths College of Art, Banner has continued to evolve an important, considered and interrelated practice, rooted in language. Publishing, in the broadest sense, is central to her practice. In 1995, she was included in ''General Release: Young British Artists'' held at the XLVI
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
. Since 1994 Banner has created handwritten and printed texts – 'wordscapes' – that retell in her own words entire feature films, including ''
Point Break ''Point Break'' is a 1991 American action film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by W. Peter Iliff. It stars Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The film's title refers to the surfing term " point break", where a ...
'' (1991) and ''The Desert'' (1994), or particular scenarios in detail. Her work took the form of solid single blocks of text, often the same shape and size as a cinema screen. She also investigates the formal components of written language, giving significance to the symbols that punctuate sentences. In 1997, when she published ''THE NAM'', she started working under the imprint of ''The Vanity Press'', and has since published an extensive archive of books, objects and performances, many questioning the notion of authorship and copyright. For Banner, the act of publishing is itself a performative one. Consequently, her work resits traditional notions of grandeur and exclusivity, instead deploying a pseudo formality that is playful and provocative. ''THE NAM'' is a 1,000-page book which describes the plots of six Vietnam films in their entirety: the films are ''
Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American psychological epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkn ...
'', '' Born on the Fourth of July'', ''
The Deer Hunter ''The Deer Hunter'' is a 1978 American epic war drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Slavic-American steelworkers whose lives are upended by fighting in the Vietnam War. The soldiers are played by Robert De Niro ...
'', ''
Full Metal Jacket ''Full Metal Jacket'' is a 1987 war film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick from a screenplay he co-wrote with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford's 1979 autobiographical novel '' The Short-Timers''. It stars ...
'', ''
Hamburger Hill ''Hamburger Hill'' is a 1987 American war film set during the Battle of Hamburger Hill, a May 1969 assault during the Vietnam War by the U.S. Army's 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, on a ridge of Dong Ap Bia near the ...
'' and ''
Platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...
''. Following her shows at the , and
Dundee Contemporary Arts Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) is an art centre in Dundee, Scotland, with two contemporary art galleries, a two-screen movie theater, cinema, a printmaking, print studio, a learning and public engagement programme, a shop and a café bar. The cur ...
, Banner was nominated for the
Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...
in 2002. Since early 2000, Banner has been working with
pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, adult films, blue films, sexually explicit films, or 18+ films, are films that represent Human sexual activity, sexually WIKT:explicit, explicit subject matter in order to sexual arousal, arouse, fasci ...
as a basis for an exploration of our obsession with sex, and the extreme limits of written communication. In large, densely filled works she transcribe the varied sexual activities taking place in ''Asswoman in Wonderland'', starring Tiffany Minx, who also directed this X-rated version of Alice's fictional adventures. Banner's own ''Arsewoman in Wonderland'' (2001), presented in the Turner Prize exhibition, is a 4 × 6 m printed description of the film pasted and layered sheet after sheet onto the wall like and overladen billboard. 'I wanted to make some work about sex but I couldn't describe it. I was too close to it and I did not have the words that close to hand. I looked again at ports as a way of investigating my own taboo. Just as with the war films I enjoyed it but found it hard to grasp; it was intimate yet distant, seductive yet sometimes repulsive. My response to the film was very emotional.' ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' asked, "It's art. But is it porn?" calling in "Britain's biggest porn star", Ben Dover, to comment.Brockes, Emm
"It's art. But is it porn?"
''The Guardian'' online, 5 November 2002. Retrieved 21 May 2007.
The prize was won that year by Lancastrian artist
Keith Tyson Keith Tyson (born Keith Thomas Bower,Keith Tyson
. In 2009 she issued herself an
International Standard Book Number The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase or receive ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. A different ISBN is assigned to e ...
(), and registered herself as a publication under her own name. She was then photographed with the ISBN tattooed on her lower back. In 2010, she was selected to create the 10th Duveen Hall commission at
Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...
for which she transformed and displayed two decommissioned
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
fighter jets Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the air ...
. On 1 October 2010, in an open letter to the British government's culture secretary
Jeremy Hunt Sir Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2022 to 2024 and Foreign Secretary from 2018 to 2019, having previously served as Secretary of State for Health a ...
—co-signed by a further 27 previous Turner prize nominees, and 19 winners—Banner opposed any future cuts in public funding for the arts. In the letter the cosignatories described the arts in Britain as a "remarkable and fertile landscape of culture and creativity." Banner’s work includes sculpture, drawing and installation; text is the core of her oeuvre. She is one of the "key names",Grant, Simon
"Cultural propganda?"[sic
/nowiki>">ic">"Cultural propganda?"[sic
/nowiki>, ''Apollo (magazine)">Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
'', 27 March 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2010. along with Jake and Dinos Chapman, Gary Hume, Sam Taylor-Wood, Tacita Dean and Douglas Gordon, of the Young British Artists.


Other works

* Onyx, Bookman, Courier 2018 Full stop inflatables (Installation Breeder, Athens) * SS19 The Walk (and Buoys Boys) 2018 High definition digital film (Installation Breeder, Athens) * SS19 The Walk 2018 Performed at DRAFx: An Evening of Performances (o2 Kentish Town Forum, London) * Buoys Boys 2016, Full Stop inflatables, Sculptural performance (
De La Warr Pavilion The De La Warr Pavilion is a grade I listed building, located on the seafront at Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, on the south coast of England. The Modern architecture, Modernist and International style (architecture), International Style buildin ...
, Bexhill-on-sea) * Buoys Boys 2016, High definition digital film * STAMP OUT PHOTOGRAPHIE 2014 (V-A-C collection
Whitechapel Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fi ...
, London) * 1066 2012 Wall projection (
Turner Contemporary Turner Contemporary is an art gallery in Margate, Kent, England, intended as a contemporary arts space and catalyst for the regeneration of the town. The title commemorates the association of the town with noted landscape painter J. M. W. Turne ...
, England) * The Exquisite Corpse Will Drink the Young Wine 2012 Musical Performance / Screening (The Welsh Congregational Chapel, Borough, London) * Performance Nude 2010 Performance with David Salas (Claire de Rouen / Other Criteria Book Launch, London) * Mirror 2007 Performance with
Samantha Morton Samantha Jane Morton (born 13 May 1977) is an English actress. She is known for her work in independent film with dark and tragic themes, particularly in period dramas. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including the BAFTA Fellowship ...
(
Whitechapel Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fi ...
, London)


Exhibitions

; 1994 : Pushing Back The Edge of the Envelope, City Racing, London ; 1995 : Viewing Room,
Luhring Augustine Gallery The Luhring Augustine Gallery is an art gallery in New York City. The gallery has three locations: Chelsea, Manhattan, Chelsea, Bushwick, Brooklyn, Bushwick, and Tribeca. Its principal focus is the representation of an international group of con ...
, New York ; 1997 : The Nam : 1000 page all text flick book, London : Only the Lonely, Frith Street Gallery, London ; 1998 : Art Now,
Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...
, London : LOVE DOUBLE, Barbara Thumm Gallery, Berlin ; 1999 : Statements, Basel Art Fair : ASTERISK, Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst, Bremen : Don't Look Back, Brooke Alexander, New York : THE NAM and Related Material,
Printed Matter Printed matter is a term, mostly used by mailing systems, normally used to describe mechanically printed materials for which reduced fees are paid which are lower than first-class mail. Each postal administration has its own rules for what may be ...
, New York : STOP, Frith Street Gallery, London ; 2000 : Soixante-Neuf, Charles H Scott Gallery, Emily Carr Institute, Vancouver ; 2001 : ARSEWOMAN, Murray Guy, New York : ARSEWOMAN, Barbara Thumm Gallery, Berlin : Rainbow, 24/7,
Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal ...
, London ; 2002 : My Plinth is Your Lap, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen : My Plinth is Your Lap,
Dundee Contemporary Arts Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) is an art centre in Dundee, Scotland, with two contemporary art galleries, a two-screen movie theater, cinema, a printmaking, print studio, a learning and public engagement programme, a shop and a café bar. The cur ...
, Dundee ; 2003 : Fiona Banner, 1301PE, Los Angeles, CA ; 2006 : Arsenal, Barbara Thumm Gallery, Berlin : Arsewoman in Wonderland, Barbara Thumm Gallery, Berlin ; 2007 : Peace on Earth,
Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...
, London   : Every Word Unmade, Barbara Thumm Gallery, Berlin : The Bastard Word, Power Plant, Toronto ; 2010 : The Naked Ear, Frith Street Gallery, London : Harrier and
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...
,
Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...
Duveens Commission 2010, Tate Britain, London : Tornado, Co-commission by Locus+ and Great North Run Culture, 2010, Newcastle : All the World's Fighter Planes, Musée d'art de Joliette, Québec ; 2011 : Snoopy Vs The Red Baron, Barbara Thumm Gallery, Berlin ; 2012 : Unboxing, The Greatest Film Never Made, 1301PE, Los Angeles ; 2013 : The Vanity Press,
Summerhall Summerhall is an arts complex and events venue in Edinburgh, Scotland. Formerly home to the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies of the University of Edinburgh, it is now a major Edinburgh Festival Fringe visual and performing arts venue. ...
, Edinburgh (Catalogue) ; 2014 : Wp Wp Wp,
Yorkshire Sculpture Park The Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) is an art gallery, with both open-air and indoor exhibition spaces, in West Bretton, Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It shows work by British and international artists, including Henry Moore and Barb ...
, Wakefield : Mistah Kurtz, He Not Dead, PEER, London ; 2015 : Scroll Down And Keep Scrolling,
Ikon Gallery The Ikon Gallery () is an England, English art gallery, gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Listed building, Grade II listed, neo-Gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henr ...
, Birmingham, UK : FONT, Frith Street Gallery, London ; 2016 : Au Cœur des Ténèbres, mfc-Michele Didier, Paris, France : Buoys Boys,
De La Warr Pavilion The De La Warr Pavilion is a grade I listed building, located on the seafront at Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, on the south coast of England. The Modern architecture, Modernist and International style (architecture), International Style buildin ...
, Bexhill, UK : Fiona Banner, Barbara Thumm Gallery, Berlin : Scroll Down And Keep Scrolling, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Germany : Fiona Banner, 1301PE, Los Angeles : Study #13. Every Word Unmade, Fiona Banner, David Roberts Art Foundation, London ; 2017 : Runway AW17, De Pont Museum, Tilburg, Netherlands ; 2018 : Buoys Boys, Mission Gallery, Swansea, Wales ; 2019 : Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press, Libby Leshgold Gallery,
Emily Carr University of Art and Design The Emily Carr University of Art and Design (stylized as Emily Carr University of Art + Design and abbreviated as ECU) is a public university of art school, art and design located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1925 as the Van ...
, Vancouver, Canada : Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press, Independent Art Fair, Barbara Thumm Gallery, New York, USA : Full Sea Stop Scape, Barbara Thumm Gallery, Berlin, Germany ; 2020 : PERIOD, Museum Voorlinden, Netherlands ; 2021 : Pranayama Typhoon, Barakat Contemporary, Seoul, Korea


References


External links


Fiona Banner
– Fiona Banner's own website with some artworks, texts and exhibition news


The Body Of The Text
– Fiona Banner article in ''Art in America''
Fiona Banner Profile on BBC site

Interview with Fiona Banner



Fiona Banner at De Pont museum

Fiona Banner's 'The Bastard Word Studies' at the Royal Air Force Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banner, Fiona 1966 births Living people 20th-century English women artists 21st-century English women artists Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Alumni of Kingston University English contemporary artists English installation artists English sculptors English women sculptors Young British Artists