Michael Banning and Melanie Pankau | Structures of Light

Groveland Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Structures of Light, an exhibition of new paintings by Michael Banning and Melanie Pankau. Structures of Light brings together artists Melanie Pankau and Michael Banning, a married couple with artistic practices that share common themes through different genres of painting. Pankau is an abstract painter whose work is grounded in her daily meditation practice and creates precise, layered geometric abstractions that embody subtle states of being. Banning, is a representational painter who focuses on specific qualities of light and unusual viewpoints within the familiar spaces of the domestic interior. 

Although the work of these artists takes contrasting visual forms, the couple weave together similar qualities within the content and processes of their work: a slow process of making, meditative qualities of observation, and the representation of physical and metaphysical light. 

Their paintings take shape over many months where numerous revisions are made while creating a painting. The process of slow making elicits slow looking that counters the fast pace of our current culture and is grounding for both artist and viewer. The artists’ studio processes rely on methods that involve the connection of the body and mind to direct experience.

They communicate the idea of light very differently in their work. Pankau’s compositions capture the light that derives from an inner landscape while Banning’s paintings illuminate the light moving through the lived quotidian spaces of their home. Together, their intentions are to create images that are quiet and offer spaces for reflection.

The artists will be present at the opening reception Saturday, April 23rd from 12-5 pm. The opening reception and exhibition run concurrently with Silent Forest, Water, Wind & Stone by Dan Mason.

Gallery Hours

 Tuesday – Saturday, 12 to 5 pm 

Image: 

Left- Michael Banning, "Backyard View in Winter", 2022, 16x16, oil on panel

Right- Melanie Pankau, "Points of Transition"