Joe Banish - Nth Degree

Joe Banish

In my latest digital photo series, the subject is spaces in the NYC subway where ads have been removed, but new ads are yet to take their place. Layers upon layers of chipped paint blends with shards of former ad posters, grime and the occasional graffiti to form what I term, "accidental compositions." Surprising in their cohesiveness and punctuated with pops of color, these urban textures form genuine New York images that at once recalls the collage art of Picasso and Braque at the beginning of the 20th Century, now reanimated to form a new modernism for a new age. A native of Detroit, I began exhibiting paintings there in 1975. For the past decade, I've been seeking art in the environment, particularly biomorphic geometric forms and circles. As a method of recording these discoveries, I began using digital photography, first as a "sketch" for paintings, then as an expression in and of itself. I've exhibited in Detroit and New York, and am listed in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, Midwest Division.