New Viewings #6

Fiona Banner’s work centers on the problems and possibilities of language, both written and metaphorical. Her work encompasses text, sculpture, drawing and installation.

She became known for her early written transcriptions of Hollywood war films such as Top Gun and Apocalypse Now. From these ‘wordscapes’ to her use of found and transformed military aircraft, Banner juxtaposes the brutal and the sensual, performing a complete cycle of intimacy, attraction and alienation. Publishing, in the broadest sense, is at the heart of her practice. In 1997 she started working under the title of The Vanity Press. She has published books, objects and performances – often deploying a playful attitude and bringing pseudo grandeur to the act of publishing.