Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press: Pranayama Typhoon

Barakat Contemporary is proud to present Pranayama Typhoon, the first solo exhibition by Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press in Asia from 16th June to 15th August 2021. Banner first gained attention in the mid-1990s for her “wordscapes” and “still films”, which explored the relationships of primitive human desire and violence conveyed by traditional nudes, pornography, and Hollywood war films, relayed as dense verbal descriptions. As her moniker, The Vanity Press suggests, language and publishing are at the heart of Banner’s practice, and her attitude is at once playful and often performative.

Pranayama Typhoon combines the word “pranayama,” a breathing technique that dates back to ancient India, with the word “typhoon,” a catastrophic weather phenomenon, which is also the name of a state-of-the-art fighter plane. The title of the exhibition hints at the collision of human breath with the unpredictable, destructive forces of nature. Banner conceived the work in Pranayama Typhoon during the Covid lockdown in the UK. Banner will show the premier of a new film, recent paintings, and installation works in this exhibition. We look forward to welcoming you to Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press’s first exhibition in Korea, Pranayama Typhoon.