Without cell phones at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the founding fathers had to make do with paintings made after the fact. Not so in Mark Wagner’s imaginatively collaged ‘Wish You Were Here,’ in which he collages a scene from the back of the $2 bill with myriad fragments of $1 bills to portray George Washington through a different lens. (At Pavel Zoubok Gallery in Chelsea through Oct 15th).
Ever politically minded, New York based artist Hans Haacke presents new work at Paula Cooper Gallery targeting the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new fountains, funded by political conservatives, the Koch Brothers. Flanked by pictures of the fountain and seemingly buoyed by doctored $100 bills, Haacke’s Met façade offers businesses the opportunity to park a corporate name on the building. (Through Nov 22nd).
Hans Haacke, The Business Behind Art Knows the Art of the Koch Brothers, UV matted laminated color inkjet photo mounted on aluminum, photo-collaged hundred dollar bills, 2014.
We knew that there was big money in the art world, but Kerry James Marshall makes it explicit with his installation of coins, constructed in brass. Though the value of the coins adds up to $.99, the piece’s title reveals that fabrication costs were approximately $136,000. And the selling price? The gallery “…would prefer to not have that published,” a position that reinforces Marshall’s point that culture and money are entwined, sometimes secretly. (At Chelsea’s Jack Shainman Gallery through Oct 12th).
Kerry James Marshall, 99 cent piece (One hundred thirty six thousand dollars in change), cast resin with brass overlay, 2012.
