Banks's large scale paintings of Venice bedrooms focus on light -filled interiors that are both real and imagined. As with her Glasgow work, the outside world remains of interest. The work continues to reflect on the fragile boundries which enclose us and keep us safe but may be threatened by unforeseen events.
The darker, secretive side of Venice is explored within small intimate spaces. These dark interiors follow past visitors to Venice: John Singer Sargent [1856 -1925] and Walter Sickert [1860-1942] who made much of the Italian custom for shuttered and draped windows which keep living quarters cool and dark by day. Some of her smaller works focus solely on the shutters and drapes, directly confronting the boundary itself.
Venice is merely glimpsed through windows, the framing of the city becomes a picture within a picture, where the presense of humans is evoked rather than explicit. Movement is suggested by its traces - crumples linen, curtains blowing from a window left open, birdcages and other items more often associated with the still life - implying there has been a missed encounter.
Lesley Banks ; 25 years of painting
By Alison Eldridge
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Lesley Banks, Room over the Canal, Venice, 2013 -
Lesley Banks, A Glimpse of Venice, 2009
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Lesley Banks, Towards Giudecca, Venice, 2009
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Lesley Banks, Towards Palazzo Bernardo, 2009
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Lesley Banks, Dark Interior - Venice, 2008
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Lesley Banks, Giudecca Window, Venice, 2008
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Lesley Banks, Interior - Palazzo Benzon Venice, 2008
