concept and definition of bank

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!
Matthew Collings states that many of the works of BANK were based on John Russell's input, but goes on to say that, "If you agree to subsume your personal identity within a collective...then you can't really complain if once you've left the collective, no one talks about your individual contribution."
Julian Stallabrass describes BANK’s activity as “the parodic creation of corporate identity at the centre of which (as their name suggests) is a noisy and constant reference to that matter of which the art world usually whispers: money.”They had, according to Matthew Collings, a "surly, self-destructive, self-conscious, introspective attitude - combined...with critical intelligence and a flair for spotting weaknesses in the art system".