In Robb Putnam’s “Unattended Creatures,” sad-faced bears and rabbits, some with no faces at all, make up most the sculptural works, while another exhibition at Walter Maciel Gallery, “Escape,” by John Bankston, combines several different series of paintings and mixed media works within it. Both are on view through October 31.

Putnam’s work is haunting, evocative, and somehow exceedingly right for the first pandemic-era Halloween season. Both playful and sorrowful, these are the childhood-friends of memory, both comfort-friends, and costumes. Created primarily of fabric, thread, wire, glue, wood, paint, and mixed media, some sculptures are free-standing, like the life-size bears highlighted with salmon pink and red of Stripling; or the downcast Bystander. Others, like Untitled (pink bear head) jut from the wall. Orphan Suit 2 is also suspended on the wall, like a faceless trophy. Primarily grey, pink, and white, hanging and woven threads serve to bind and shape this blind rabbit. Orphan Suit 3 is also a rabbit-shaped being or costume, and while featureless, only the mouth is blank and open, in a toothless smile.

“Unattended Creatures” exhibition view courtesy of Walter Maciel Gallery

The freestanding rabbit of Mucklebum, among others, has a nose and empty-socket eyes. The figure seems poised and waiting, while pink-eared Nanimal has a more relaxed pose. Then there are the more doll-like mice, such as “Curio 2,” and the more realistic skunk, “Bandit.” “Orphan Suit 7” in a human doll, one arm extended as if preventing a fall from grace; and the collapsed and bent figure of Skein. Works on paper that feature many images of dogs and small masked figures have the overall effect of a carefully rendered children’s cartoon. All the works are beautifully haunting; infused with a deep poignancy.

John Bankston, Evening, (2020). Oil and wax on canvas, 48″ x 36.”

John Bankston’s exhibition “Escape” is populated with human figures painted in a vivid palette. Bold purples, reds, and blues leap from the wall in a series that features a figure of a man, sometimes paired, sometimes part of a group, more often solo. He is simply dressed or wearing a mask or costume. In Evening, he walks alone with a vibrant sunset behind him. Untitled 6 finds two men, one holding a bird, both men wearing hats that resemble beaks. Escape-Gentle Beast presents a large but sad-faced lion and a surprised-looking man balanced on a tree, wearing a mask. Mysterious Meeting includes a strangely abstract geometric shape, and four men, one of which appears to be the handler of the shape. Then there are earlier works, such as Cover Up, which features a man, a beach umbrella, a clothed wolf-like creature, centipedes dangling from umbrella’s edge, and a partially covered geometric shape or machine.

Within “Escape” are several smaller series: Escape is generally darker in palette, oil on canvas; The Sky Above Us and Sundry Stories offer works in oil and mixed media on paper or linen. Earlier Works use a mix of mediums including oil on linen, and acrylic.

In each series of Bankston’s works, the images vibrate with color and light, each telling a story the viewer wants to see continue. Both shows together offer an immersive and richly-felt experience.

Robb Putnam “Unattended Creatures” & John Bankson “Escape”
Walter Maciel Gallery
September 12 – October 31, 2020