Interview
Banning Lary
Banning began painting in Venice Beach, California, in the 1970s. Through the years his styles evolved while studying painting at Mission: Renaissance, and later inspired by his work in the social sciences producing documentaries. The work involved traveling the country and meeting with some of America's top psychologists, educators, physicians, lawyers and entrepreneurs. Catharcism emerged in the mid-1980s in Austin, Texas, as an outlet for mental and emotional tension.
He found the intellectual and physical demands of sitting for long periods of time while researching, writing or editing video produced an imbalance that curtailed his abilities to function at optimal levels. While meditation and physical exercise helped to alleviate this psychic distress, there remained a residual annoyance requiring expurgation before homeostasis would be restored. Banning adopted the methods of the Action Painters of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Instead of planning a painting in advance, the blank canvas would be approached with no preconceived notions. Thinking would be abandoned except as required for obtaining materials. The thrust of applying paint to canvas would come spontaneously from the emotions, the intuition and would connect with psychic energy sources deep within. Banning called this method Catharcism, a verbal construction stemming from the Greek kathairein ‘cleanse,’ from katharos ‘pure.’ The notion of “release” through art derives from Aristotle's Poetics. Adding the suffix "ism" creates an state of action, thus Catharcism means "a cleansing or release derived through creativity." His limited visual sight has resulted in an enhanced appreciation for color, evident in many of his paintings. Banning Lary’s paintings are prized by collectors from Palm Beach to Beverly Hills - Oscar winners, physicians, lawyers, businessmen, and others such as the actor Richard Burton. He was one of the first to incorporate digital imagery into mixed media works and has trademarked the style of ULTRAREALISM which embodies multimedia into wall art works. He also has created over 100 educational documentaries on science, law, medicine, psychology and the social sciences and won numerous awards. Banning’s style of Catharcism expresses the unconscious mind through large colorful abstractions, drawing on his studies in psychology and the social sciences. Banning holds a Bachelors in communication from UT Austin, and a Masters and PhD in psychology from Walden University in Minneapolis.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I have always been a creative person. I won a newspaper coloring contest when I was in the 3rd grade. Since then, I have worked in acrylics, oils, assemblages, painted huge murals, been in many shows in Los Angeles, Miami, Austin and Lexington. Basically a self-taught artist, I briefly attended art school in Los Angeles where I copied impressionist and expressionist masters like Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh and others.”
What inspires you?
“Inspiration comes from the great beyond where sensory stimuli ignites creative urges. I am always consciously aware of visual compositions and color patterns that reform in my subconscious and reveal themselves through my work.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“I simply try to create beautiful or provocative works that arrive at an innate aesthetic. Occasionally, I will consciously construct a work to represent an idea such as in "Ideals of Democracy Splitting the Iron Curtain" done a year before the Berling Wall was torn down. Or "Oil Cloth" which summarizes the essence of conflict in the Middle East. But many of my paintings are landscapes, florals, or abstracts.”
“I simply try to create beautiful or provocative works that arrive at an innate aesthetic.”
How would you describe your work?
“My work expresses life as I see it and feel it as honestly as possible in media best suited to its articulation. Some works are done in one sitting, others require months of coming back, painting over and adding layers, often obliterating what was done before. In short, I simply want to create interesting beautiful works.”
Which artists influence you most?
“One of the great things about Facebook and Instagram is the continuous flow of images from great artists like Picasso, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Renoir, Matisse, Chagall, Dali, Bonnard, O'Keefe, DeKooning, and so many others. It is impossible for me to stop scrolling in quiet moments and screen capturing these images which provide constant inspiration and companionship. These artists are my brothers and colleagues.”
What is your creative process like?
“These days, I just get my materials ready and it flows out. My reservoir of ideas and images whirls inside me, like leaves floating on a river. I watch them float by until one attracts me and I grab it. Painting is like that. I travel a lot and have always taken photographs to work from. Photographs are visual expressions frozen in time. I take advantage of modern technology to speed along my work and often my work in a combination of media elements.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“Creativity is its own reward at one level. The individual artist not connected to the promotional machines like in NYC has little chance of ever achieving recognition beyond his or her locale. In the past, artists like DaVinci or Michelangelo lived at the pleasure of rich ruling families while today it is the big galleries that take on an artist and promote the work as a financial product. Without Peggy Guggenheim, for example, the abstract expressionists would probably never have taken hold. Today, the second most expensive painting ever sold was an abstract by DeKooning, the first by DaVinci. Big artists are supposed to capture the zeitgeist of the times which is determined by the machine, paralleling evolcing society to a greater or lesser degree.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“My recent exhibitions include an ongoing exhibits at Wills Gallery, Lexington; “You Are Beautiful,” juried show, 1 piece accepted, 2022; “Beginnings and Endings” Juried show, 3 pieces accepted, 2021; “Kentucky Capitol Show” Juried show, 1 piece accepted, 2021; among others.”
Website: catharcism.com
Other links: ultrarealism.com
