Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much
appreciated.
Close
Ad Feedback
Currency collages: The man who makes art from money
Dollar Donald —
Brooklyn-based artist Mark Wagner makes collages out of currency, meticulously handcrafting U.S. dollar bills into presidents, landmarks and fantastical scenery.
Brooklyn-based artist Mark Wagner makes collages out of currency, meticulously handcrafting U.S. dollar bills into presidents, landmarks and fantastical scenery.
The artist says that money -- especially the U.S. one dollar bill -- is readily available and the design of the currency lends itself well to collage work.
However, most of his works are created using U.S. one dollar bills. "I stumbled onto a niche benefit using the one dollar bill," Wagner says. "Also, the one dollar is not precious, and because I can get more, I have an infinite supply and don't get distracted with other possibilities."
"The refulgence and abundance of plant growth relates to the opulence of wealth," according to Wagner. "Leaves pictured on the dollar bill grow into full plants. I like flowers, they look cool, and animals are often pretty, delicious or, like money, fictitious," the artist says.
He says that money -- especially the U.S. one dollar bill -- is readily available and the texture and design of the bills lends itself well to collage work.
"The rich people who buy fine art, I love them, they give me a chance, but I like that mere mortals can enjoy it. I couldn't afford to buy my own art work," says Wagner.
"The rich people who buy fine art, I love them, they give me a chance, but I like that mere mortals can enjoy it. I couldn't afford to buy my own art work," says Wagner.
Wagner says he doesn't routinely count how many bills go into any one piece, but one collage -- a 17 foot tall rendering of the Statue of Liberty -- used 1,121 one dollar bills.
The U.S. Federal Reserve itself now owns some of his art and the U.S. National Portrait Gallery had a piece of his on display just three blocks from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters.
"It's the nicest piece of paper ever. It's sturdy, you run across bills in circulation that are limp, like cloth, and in order to get to that state, it has passed through tens of thousands of people's hands," Wagner says of using currency as an artistic material.
A solo exhibition of Wagner's political portraits and other work, titled 'My NAME IS MARK WAGNER, AND I APPROVE OF THIS MESSAGE', will run from September 8 to October 15 at Pavel Zoubok Gallery, 531 West 26th Street, New York. More of his works can be found on his website.
