Online advertisements that take the form of images embedded into a website are often called banner ads for their proportion—either wide and short or tall and narrow. Banners, however, are not only traditionally made of cloth or paper, but encompass the realms of finger-painted ‘welcome home’ signs, glitter-embellished prom decorations, and props made for protest, every bit as much as they do the vinyl and grommet affair that might hang outside of a store or from a street lamp announcing a part of town or attraction. Half Priced Banners brings together eight artists—Craig Drennen, Dana Frankfort, Ben Furgal, Nathan Hauenstein, Eric Hibit, Deborah Kass, Hein Koh, and Ted Mineo—to create banner ads that respond to the history of banners as an impromptu and provisional form for displaying messages.

–Colleen Asper