- Seneca-Cayuga-Cherokee • Santa Fe, New Mexico
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Aurora Terroralis: Red Hair and The Bat, serigraph and acrylic on wood, private collections
Cibola: Seven Starrs of Gold, serigraph and acrylic on wood
Low-Rez, collaborative mural by Jamison Chas Banks and Keith Secola
Biography
Chas Banks is a silkscreen and large-scale graphic artist based out of Santa Fe, New Mexico. His works repurpose obscure political propaganda, advertising, popular iconography, and comic art into challenging contemporary statements.
"At the age of six, my Mother took me to the circus and the next day, I drew impressions of the show on yellow notebook paper. Lines from a felt-tip blue marker became shapes and forms began to appear."
Banks is a member of the Seneca-Cayuga and Cherokee Tribes of Oklahoma. From an early age, he was inspired by his mother’s graphic art and his grandfather’s oil paintings. Bill Jamison, an artist and art instructor, gave young Chas his foundation for understanding art. After graduating high school, he attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He would go on to receive an AFA and a BFA degree from the I.A.I.A.
"Being of Native American descent, I have a uniquely American perception of the modern twenty-first century."His work has shown at various galleries throughout the southwest and northwestern US. His collaborations have included renowned artist Charlene Teters in the Santa Fe Art Institute’s "Daily Terrors" show. In 2002, Banks joined forces with artist Lance Wakeling to present “WANTBUYHAVE/Celebrating Corporate Colonialism" at the Seattle Independent Media Center. The exhibit was featured on local media outlets. "Visual art is humankind’s one universal language. In order to live and move forward, we must look at where we have been."In 2003, Banks’ screen print work was selected for a traveling group show based in Australia at the Western Sydney Institute of Fine Art. His artwork has been featured in various publications including Colors Northwest, The Stranger of Seattle, The Santa Fe Reporter, and Pasatiempo.
"My intention is to make the viewer question the complexity of history combined with the absurdity of visual dialogue.” During Santa Fe’s annual Indian Market of 2008, Banks had a solo exhibition titled "Superpowers at the Proof Modern Art Gallery". Jamison Charles’ work can be found in numerous private collections and museums around the world.