currency collages by mark wagner

currency collages by mark wagner
image courtesy of mark wagner

using myriad fragments of legitimate monetary bills, american artist mark wagner intricately crafts collages that speak to the cultural, economic, and political roles that currently play in contemporary society. a blade and glue are the artist’s primary tools, as he cuts and tears away morsels of U.S. paper dollars and reorganizes them into complex and ornate visuals. materializing portraits, landscapes, and historical scenes, wagner transforms the icon of capitalism into representational snapshots, from the story of the founding fathers, to mythological tales. asking the observer to question its influence and relationship to art, the assemblages steeped in symbolism and concept simultaneously prove that a single dollar bill is a ripe aesthetic medium. wagner’s work was recently exhibited at miami project art fair, a satellite event coinciding with art basel miami beach 2013.

‘toll bridge/ troll bridge or GW on the GWB’, 2013
currency collage on panel
36 x 28 inches
image © designboom

‘toll bridge/ troll bridge or GW on the GWB’ detail
image © designboom

overgrown empire, 2013
currency collage on panel
84 x 28 inches
image © designboom

detail of wagner’s currency collage of the mona lisa
image courtesy of mark wagner

a money portrait to abraham lincoln
image courtesy of mark wagner

detail of a collage from the ‘washington at large’ series

detial view from the ‘washington at large’ series

detail of a lion’s face made from currency