James Bantone b. 1992
Exhibitions
Works
Overview
James Bantone (*1992, Geneva, lives and works in Paris)'s artistic practice is an ongoing exploration and unsettling look at identity obsession. Through installations that play with the poetics of anonymity, ulterior perspectives, and subjectivity, combining photography, sculpture, and video, Bantone questions not only contemporary markers of violence towards the racialized and queer body, but also the refusal of identification of his subjects and thus their exploitation. By appropriating the "tools of the fashion world" and, at times, perverting their application, Bantone approaches a new method of representation wrapped in layers of refusal - tightly sewn neoprene jumpsuits reveal neither skin nor face, oversized prosthetics impose the grotesque, and, at times, all anthropomorphic signifiers are abandoned. Accompanied by a strong interest in the horror genre, the artist is driven to reconfigure and design bodies, objects and clothing by staging them in an absurd manner, in order to question various tropes.
Biography
James Bantone graduated with a Bachelor of Art & Media - Video at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) in 2019 and completed the Work. Master - Contemporary Artistic Practices at the Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD) in 2021. He has had solo exhibitions at Karma International, Zurich (2021), Coalmine, Winterthur (2020), and participated in group exhibitions at Kunsthalle Zurich (2023), Simian, Copenhagen (2023), Klemm’s Gallery, Berlin (2023), Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen (2023), Centre d'Art Contemporain de Genève (2022) Cordova, Barcelona (2021), Swiss Institute, New York (2020), Kunsthalle Fribourg (2020), and UV Estudios, Buenos Aires (2019).
Events