Counterfeit

Money is an icon, a myth, a metaphor, a collectible, a talisman, a commodity, a means to an end, and much more. Money is ubiquitous, yet we never seem to have enough. In our American Dream, it is a common object of desire and we care greatly about its worth, yet we rarely reflect on its true value.

This work is from a series titled Counterfeit in which I selected key artwork by famous artists, such as Fountain, by Marcel Duchamp, Three Flags, by Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol's Marilyn, and re-made them out of sewn US currency. I started making artwork out of money because as an artist, educator, and part-time art appraiser, I am often asked to assign an economic value to my artwork or others work. By remaking “signature” artworks by 20th century masters, I’m hoping to broaden the discourse about art in general to include discussion of its social, historic and aesthetic values.

The pieces shown here are all unavailable but if you see something you like, feel free to contact me—I do commissions!

Peelavie, 2000

Sewn US currency 11" x 17" x 20" (after Marcel Duchamp's Fountain. 1917)

All the Way to the Bank, 2003

sewn US currency 21 3/4" x 17 7/8" (after Picasso's Weeping Woman, 1937)

Loving It, 2005

sewn US currency 20 x 20 inches (after Robert Indiana's Love, 2000)

Bullseye With Four Johns, 2004

sewn US currency, wood, ground money dust, plaster. 29.75" x 26" x 3.75" (after Jasper John's Target With Four Faces, 1955)

Shopping Spree, 2002

sewn US currency 36" x 36" (after Barbara Kruger's Untitled [I shop therefore I am])

Image 6

Cash Gift, 2000

sewn US currency, alumimum, tacks, velcro 7" x 4" x 6" (after Man Ray's Gift, 1919)

Gelt Suit v.2, 2004

60" x 34" Sewn US currency (after Joseph Beuy's Felt Suit, 1970)

All You Need, 2002

sewn US currency, polyester filling, 12" x 12" x 6" (after Robert Indiana’s LOVE 1966)

Down the Toilet, 2000

sewn US currency, wood, metal, velcro 33" x 20" x 25" (after Claus Oldenburg's Soft Toilet, 1966)

Action, 2001

sewn US currency 31" x 39" (after Franz Kline's Two Horizontals, 1954)

Tasty, 2002

sewn US currency 11" x 10" (after Jenny Holzer's Truisms: Money Creates Taste, 1979 - 1983)

"Can't get no", 2003

sewn US currency 48.75 x 34.75 inches (after Andy Warhol's Mick Jagger, 1971)

Portrait of Tom, 2004

US currency and candy 175 pounds, dimensions variable (after Felix Gonzales-Torres's untitled portrait of Ross, 1991)

For a Song, 2000

sewn US currency 38 x 48.5 inches (after Robert Motherwell's Elegy for the Spanish Repubic 1958)

Desire, 2002

sewn US currency 8 x 11 inches (after Jenny Holzer's Truisms:Protect Me From What I Want, 1979-83)