Sydney Clark
Features Editor

David Ginolfi, better known by his moniker Bruce Banter, had a collection of his art featured at curio. Gallery & Creative Supply from August 1 to September 16. This downtown exhibit “Scenes from a Technicolor World” featured over thirty pieces using watercolor, ink, and acrylic paint.

Curio. is co-owned by Nicole Duquette and Matt Allyn Chapman where they sell a selection of drawing and writing supplies, fine papers, and stationery. This unique space also features a rotating exhibition that spotlights local and regional artists. They host artist talks, workshops, virtual events, and a weekly Sketchbook Club.

Banter talks about the start of the show: “I was given the pleasure of having [Duquette and Chapman] curate the show. They have a really great name that goes along with what they do, and you kind of just hand them your art and they make it happen…It was a really awesome process for me, because as a veteran showing art in this town, I’ve kind of had to do everything myself.” Normally Banter ends up naming the show and coming up with his own artist bio, but at curio. Duquette and Chapman took that over. Banter handed over about forty pieces and they whittled it down from there. Beyond a few pieces from 2016 and 2017, the gallery was mainly made up of pieces from 2019 to 2020, and some were even created during quarantine this year. By using a similar palette over the years, the works came together cohesively. 

Curio. posted this design on their Instagram in preparation for Bruce Banter’s upcoming exhibit.
Photo courtesy of Curio. Gallery & Creative Supply

Banter talks about what his process looks like while creating different pieces. With about 10 different pads of paper of varying sizes and textures, he tends to do 10 pieces at once, whether it’s the same theme, a different one, or iterations of the same idea. This came from his time at the Art Institute of York – Pennsylvania. These different iterations can eventually become a series.

Although he’s always lived in Lancaster County, Banter loves to travel, which is evident in his work. A love for animals, his pets, zoos, and the wilderness can all be seen in recurring themes of western scenes, wildlife, and nature throughout his art. 

From his travels, Banter uses western themes in some of his art.
Photo courtesy of Bruce Banter

By the time the exhibit came down Banter sold over a third of his pieces, something he was excited about because they didn’t have a reception at all. After a show, he usually offers the pieces up in his Instagram story, and then sees if any other galleries are interested. Beyond that, he’ll hang them on the walls in his studio to look over and enjoy for a little bit.

 Banter’s house is almost like an art gallery of his work, so sometimes people come over and even buy the pieces off of the walls. Something he has also been known to do in the past is auction off the remaining pieces or donate them to charity, always looking for them to go to a good home.

Something that significantly stands out is how similar his moniker is to the Hulk, or Bruce Banner. It came about while frequently emceeing in Millersville, so with his rapping Bruce Banter formed. 

He describes his music as lasery and hip hop with a little bit of psychedelic and progressive synthesizer work over top of it. “My studio is a 50/50, yin yang of art and music…The one B is for beats. The one B is for beauty, and that’s just kind of who it is. It’s kind of a convoluted scenario with how I came up with the moniker. So the two B’s that I signed my work with are actually two thirteen’s.” 

Banter and his girlfriend were both born on Friday the 13th. “That’s something that I’ve kind of always been into, horror movies and stuff like that, since I was a little kid,” he says. He explains that “bright colors of [the] 80s, and stuff I grew up with, kind of all culminated into this Bruce Banter thing.”  Had this show not been during a pandemic, Banter would have had music to go along with the show, even if it was just ambient in the background. 

Banter also mentions how the Lancaster community cares about the artists and the music involved in the town. “I’ve always loved Lancaster and the things it had to offer…People are just growing and relocating and it’s a good time to kind of reinvent yourself, and I think that’s kind of a lot of what this show is about, just coming and reinventing styles that I’ve been doing and things that I’ve been doing and reiterating ideas,” he says. 

Regardless of the current pandemic, the city of Lancaster will continue looking forward to everything Bruce Banter has in store. It’s hard to forget that even when the world seemed to stop, we turned to art. 

Bright colors can continuously be seen in Banter’s pieces.
Photo courtesy of Bruce Banter