Shock and awe at Tate

Shock and awe at Tate | reviews, news & interviews

Shock and awe at Tate

by Fisun GunerTuesday, 29 June 2010

Fiona Banner and her 'nose-diving' Sea Harrier

Two recently decommissioned fighter jets are in the incongruous setting of Tate Britain's Duveen Galleries. One plane, polished to a mirror sheen, lies belly-up, like an injured animal; the other hangs suspended from the ceiling, its matt surface stripped of its combat colours and stripes, painted instead with faint feather markings, bringing to mind a giant, trussed-up bird. Its stilled presence is both powerfully majestic and inert.

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