Jimmie Banks Retrospective

Jimmie Banks was introduced to art when his mother gifted him a paint-by-number set in elementary school. Decades later, he sketches and paints daily, taking his inspiration from popular culture and the people around him. “I paint every day. Morning, noon and night,” says Banks. “It’s in my blood, it is like living or breathing to me.” In eleventh grade, Banks was the head cook for Gardner’s Barbecue in Rocky Mountain, and for the past twenty-two years, he has worked as an electrician for the Duke Facilities Management Department. Banks often swaps out his tool belt for brushes and pencils during his lunchbreak. Duke employees might just recognize a familiar face—Banks has completed several commissions for his FMD colleagues.

This retrospective of paintings, pastels, and drawings encompasses Banks’s early works and his evolving portraits of family, friends, celebrities, and athletes. “I love drawing people and I take inspiration from movies,” says Banks. Banks is a keen observer working in a variety of media, and an artist that is deeply dedicated to his craft. He has previously exhibited at Duke University Hospital, the Mary Lou Williams Center, the Friedl Building on East Campus, Durham Public Library, and Cup A Joe in Raleigh. Banks completed two murals inside the Duke Arts Annex and his artwork is featured in the books Jimmie’s Artwork: Art by Jimmie Banks (2005) and Domestic Violence: Both Sides of the Coin by Cheryle E. Dawes (Trafford Publishing, 2006).