BANK was an artists’ group active in London during the 1990s. Their most significant contribution to UK contemporary art was a series of curated group shows, often with comical, and sometimes offensive, titles. As a group they adopted an aggressive stance towards the mainstream contemporary art scene of the time.
John Russell and Simon Bedwell founded the group in 1991. Dino Demosthenous was also a member at this time, but left in 1992. In 1993 Russell and Bedwell were joined by Milly Thompson, David Burrows and Andrew Williamson. Burrows left the group in 1995, Williamson in 1998, Russell in 2000. When Gallerie Poo Poo closed after the three-day show Press Release in January 1999, BANK begun to exhibit their collective work in other venues: The Mayor Gallery, London, Magasin 4, Bregenz, Rupert Goldsworthy Gallery, New York, Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London, Chapman FineARTS, London, Suburban, Chicago, and finally the inaugural show at Store, London, after which Milly Thompson and Simon Bedwell began to work separately as artists whilst managing the BANK archive.
The approximately twenty shows curated by BANK included the work of the BANK artists alongside the work of several future Turner Prize nominees and winners. Although the BANK exhibitions were mostly held in warehouse spaces on Curtain Road, then Underwood Street (both Shoreditch, London) the name of the gallery changed. Initially it was BANKSPACE, then DOG, and finally Gallerie Poo-Poo. The various artworks were combined together as single sprawling installations.
BANK also published a satirical magazine delivering tabloid-style critiques of the art world. Headlines included, "AD MAN YOU’RE A BAD MAN," and, "GALLERIES ‘ALL OWNED BY RICH PEOPLE’ SHOCK."[1] Other "frankly adolescent" headlines were "GILLIAN WEARING THIN", "SIMON PATTERSON - EIGHT YEARS ONE IDEA!" and "SAM TAYLOR WOULD - NOT DO ANY MORE ART USING OPERA!"[2]
The Conservatives have accused the government of creating a "new world record" for bank bailouts as another £39bn of taxpayers' money was injected into Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group.
The sum is larger than the £37bn used to prop up the banks in last October's salvage exercise and means the taxpayer is on the hook for more than £54bn in RBS alone.
George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, said the £39.2bn was the equivalent of £2,000 per family and a "new world record as the biggest bailout of any single bank in any country".
Dan Roberts on the injection of government funds Link to this audio
The government, which regards a figure closer to £29bn as a truer reflection of its new injection of funds, tried to temper its announcement by imposing curbs on bonuses at the banks. They will not be able to pay cash bonuses for the 2009 financial year to any staff earning more than £39,000 and members of the boards will have to defer all their bonuses until 2012.
The latest injection of taxpayer funds follows months of negotiations over the government's insurance scheme for toxic assets, first unveiled in January. It comes at a time when the taxpayer is already sitting on £10bn losses on the shares it bought in October, following a 20% fall in the share price of RBS in the past two days.
Lloyds is now exiting the government's Asset Protection Scheme (APS) through the biggest cash call to take place in the City, of £13.5bn, and by embarking on a complex debt swap to raise more than £21bn. It requires the government to buy £5.7bn of new shares to maintain its stake in Lloyds at 43%, although Lloyds will pay back £2.5bn for the insurance it has already received.
Documentation accompanying its fundraising showed that the City regulator, the Financial Services Authority, was investigating a previous cash call conducted by HBOS, now part of Lloyds after last year's rescue takeover.
The documentation said: "The FSA is conducting a supervisory review into the accuracy and completeness of financial disclosures made by HBOS in connection with its capital raisings in 2008, including information as to corporate impairments disclosed in the circulars and/or prospectuses issued by HBOS in connection with such capital raisings."
Neither the FSA nor Lloyds would comment further on the investigation.
RBS, though, is more troubled than Lloyds and has had no option but to put £282bn of its toxic loans into the insurance scheme, taking the taxpayers' stake to 84% from 70% through a £25.5bn injection of funds with a further £8bn kept in reserve should the economy deteriorate.
The state of RBS's finances prompted the City minister, Lord Myners, to describe the bank when run by its previous management – led by Sir Fred Goodwin – as "the worst managed bank this country has ever seen". As Goodwin's replacement, Stephen Hester, warned that the new bonus strictures would make his bankers easy prey for rivals, Myners said big pay deals were no longer justifiable.
"The chief executives of the banks have been very supportive. Some of these people in banking need to 'get it' at some point – that the levels of remuneration that helped create this situation … are just no longer justifiable," said Myners.