American artist and musician Kyle Banner will unveil his beautiful Jazz and blues inspired paintings at The Colony Room Green in London’s Heddon Street this May.
Banner is an artist and musician residing in Asheville, North Carolina – a hub of musical and artistic creativity in the Appalachian Mountains. His paintings evoke jazz, blues and old-time musical traditions. His ability to capture these figures is rooted in an upbringing steeped in the music and history of the American South. His great grandfather, Wilcher Banner, was shot in the head at the battle of Gettysburg, and his other great grandfather Walter Smith, played banjo at festivals back in the 1880s.
Now boasting an encyclopaedic knowledge of music, the artist grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, playing fiddle, guitar, banjo and harmonica, while his father strummed a 1950s Gibson and blew mountain music on a rack harmonica.
Kyle is a self-taught artist, who reads voraciously and visits galleries around the globe. The artworks are on paper, wood or canvas and combine a variety of mediums, including acrylic paint, pen and ink, watercolour and the finest Italian espresso. They exhibit a range of influences and reflect the axiom, “everything is a study”.
“Many of Kyle’s pieces capture the dissonance of jazz in bright, sometimes jarring colours or the simplicity of a blues riff in an art brut style. Hands and instruments meld together. Colour sets the tone. However, it is the use of sparse, simple line and an assuredness in mark-making and application of paint which brings a deep resonance to these remarkable Dubuffetesque images.” Dr Lucinda Towler, Art Historian
The Colony Room is synonymous with art and music in London.
Located downstairs at Ziggy Green, it is affectionately known as one of the ‘seediest spots in Britain’ but also the Bohemian heart of Soho, The Colony Room Club was an infamous drinking den/small members club which ran from 1948 to 2008. It attracted celebrity artists and eccentrics of its day, including founder member Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud.
Curated by Darren Coffield, ex-club member, artist, and author of ‘Tales from the Colony Room’ – Daisy Green have worked tirelessly to recreate the infamous Soho drinking den catering to the bohemian elite through an immersive art installation in the downstairs of Ziggy Green.
With no phones allowed and the only prerequisite for membership to not be boring (a rule instilled by Muriel Belcher, the original club proprietor), head down the staircase and step back in time. Sip on beer, house wine (with prices matching those of 2008) or an Espresso Martini – in memory of Dick Bradsell, the head barman at the club in the late 1990s (who created the now ubiquitous cocktail for Kate Moss) – all in the surrounds and iconic green hues of Colony Room Green.
Kyle Banner – 3-31 May, Colony Room Green. Free entry.