the Paul R Jones collection of African American art

Ellen Banks produces paintings and prints derived from a specific piece of music, ranging from Bach to Eric Sati to Scott Joplin. She uses the written scores, not the performed music, as a departure point for each abstract composition. The paintings began as a note-for-note translation of the music, but over time have become less an exercise based on a mathematical formula, and more subjective in thier representation of notated compositions.

The music score is only a vehicle to another aesthetic.
- Ellen Banks

JOHN FIELD, NOCTURNE #8
1987 - 88
mixed media on hand-cast paper
9"h x 11 1/4"w

CHOPIN, OPUS 70
1988
mixed media on hand-cast paper
11 5/8"h x 8 3/4"w

LINKS

WGBH
An interview on the 10 O'Clock News
http://main.wgbh.org

click on the images for larger versions