About the Artist

Michael Banks is a native Alabamian, self-taught artist. Encouraged by his mother to create, Banks began a process of integrating found objects which yielded a folk art appeal. Salvaged boards covered with tar provided the perfect canvas for application of acrylic colorful images. Whimsical combinations of animals (is it a fish or a bird) and personification of shapes challenge the viewer to resolve the juxtaposition.

The Hurn Museum, formerly in Savannah, Georgia, and now a mobile museum, places under the umbrella of Folk Art, Outsider Art. In this branch, the artist experiencing personal or social distress re-enters the mainstream by creating works of art which express their needs, emotions, and hopes for personal fulfillment. Banks’ works do strongly communicate images of his inner world. The soulful eyes and imagination literally reflected in heads on his works beckon the viewer to come into Michael’s world. It is a magical place.

Banks’ works may be found in museums and are collected worldwide.