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Unicorns Are Dead

Murder, Metal and Magnificence by Banks Violette

Titles (from left): ghost; elyse marie pahler 7.22.95
Artist: Banks Violette
Gallery: Team
Media: Epoxy, polystyrene, cast fiberglass, plywood,
IV units, water, oil on canvas
Price: $8,500 each

Banks Violette is the only artist who is still doing interesting things inspired by death metal. All others who try to mine Burzum albums for ideas: Please stop now. Including you, Matthew Barney.

Banks, whose work also owes something to Brueghel and the airbrush artisans of the Atlantic City boardwalk, constructs epic beauty in his oil paintings and sculptures of dark skulls, helmets, and fluid unicorns. It is really satanic stuff, totally parent-scaring, but also surprisingly delicate, with nuances that make even the empty eye socket of a demon’s head seem like the curves of a classical nude.

In a recent solo show, Banks referenced the crazy story of a group of California teens who committed a murder in a bid to gain fame for their band. “They wanted to make their heavy-metal band, Hatred, famous,” Banks explains, “so they killed this girl in their high-school class.” These morbid fascinations are just a launching pad for Banks’ art, however. Banks transcends death metal and hits on much bigger issues, like fictions creating scary realities (the Hatred kids name-checked Slayer as an impetus for their crime) and the simple beauty of a pink-and-black airbrushed eye.

VICE STAFF