How do you feel about money? Ostentatious, necessary, advantageous, disgusting, consuming, covetous? It’s something we can all relate to. We use it every day. But how does it relate to art?
This is the starting point for MONEY TALKS – Art, Society & Power which opens at The Ashmolean on Friday, and what a show they have in store!
‘people won’t know what to expect and we hope they will go away with a lot to think about and a few things that made them chuckle’
And if you consider money a rather dry subject for an art exhibition, there you’d be wrong; the scope, vibrancy and breadth of the subject matter, brought to life so vitally, as evidenced in this new show.
MONEY TALKS – Art, Society & Power is however not about how much art is worth financially, but rather money depicted in art, through coins, notes, clothing, canvases and symbolism, alongside artists depicting those in the ‘money industry’ through the ages.
From Rembrandt to Banksy, the wealthy to tax collectors, all are viewed through a tongue-in-cheek lens. There is certainly a sense of humour running throughout.
From Rembrandt to Banksy, the wealthy to tax collectors, all are viewed through a tongue-in-cheek lens
Take Edward VIII‘s obsession with the nation’s coinage, until then heraldic in design. He wanted a more modern design, and pushed for the national coins to show the profile of the monarch, namely him. In an enjoyable quirk, Edward vetoed the first sketches to ensure his ‘good side’ was featured, including his hair parting. The fact that he then abdicated meant the coins were never franked, but MONEY TALKS – Art, Society & Power is full of these eccentricities, curiosities and contradictions.
In terms of the wow factor, the initial exhibits include a vast sculpture Unicode by Indian sculptor TALLUR L N where coins are enclosed within a huge concrete ball replacing Shiva as the Lord of the Dance. On the other side of the entrance a giant Andy Warhol of dollar signs, explores the links between money and art from the get go. Money is unavoidable here, right through to crypto currency and NFTs.
“MONEY TALKS – Art, Society & Power is about how money and art come together in so many different ways,” Curator Dr Shailendra Bhandare tells me. “Firstly from a technical point of view, through social and cultural influence and finally within art as a medium.
“So the exhibition is defiantly brash to demonstrate the juxtaposition between art and money and how they respond to each other by asking the question ‘what makes money art, and art money’.
“Which also means it’s also an exhibition about stories. Put it this way people won’t know what to expect and we hope they will go away with a lot to think about and a few things to make them chuckle.”
Featuring more than 100 objects from across the globe, it explores our complicated feelings about money and reveals the art hiding in notes and coins that we rarely consider, dotted with juicy titbits which are topical, pert and funny.
“Take notorious Art Deco artist Eric Gill’s designs of a horse which were to be used as the royal seal. It was George V who noticed that the horse’s stance meant it was urinating and scrapped the plans,” Shailendra smiles.
Queen Elizabeth II is also prevalent, her portraits through the ages featuring on notes and coins around the world, until one design caused uproar, when a Canadian removed her crown for a design and the public spotted the devil in her hair, the ensuing note again hastily removed. (see below)
Elizabeth II’s plaster bust by Arnold Machin, made in 1966, also makes an appearance, calculated to be the most reproduced work of art ever as the resulting image appeared on billions of postage stamps as well as money around the world.
Western attitudes to art versus the less judgemental Eastern values are also apparent, artists such as Rembrandt and Bruegels The Younger depicting shame and distrust, while Asian counterparts associated wealth with happiness and even fertility.
Banknote artwork by Franz Matsch, Gustav Klimt and Koloman Moser, were typical of their wider work whilst in terms of the colour and vitality of the exhibition, Grayson Perry‘s glorious tapestry Comfort Blanket (2014) by fills an entire wall. Based on a £10 note, it explores the relationship between British national identity and capital, while Susan Stockwell’s spectacular Money Dress (2010) is a sculpture of a Victorian dress made entirely from worldwide banknotes.
Women, or the lack of, come into focus here with the backlash against the reissuing of the British notes highlighted when Jane Austen was considered the only notable woman worth featuring. Paula Stevens-Hoare took matters into her own hands by choosing her own relevant icons, and Justine Smith’s A Bigger Bang explores the world’s global stock market explosion through its bank notes.
Numerous Oxford colleges have also loaned work to MONEY TALKS – Art, Society & Power including Corpus Christi, Christ Church, Keble and New College, giving it a strong local connection.
And as the last exhibits were being wheeled in ready for the opening on Friday, I asked Shailendra how he’s feeling about the upcoming show. “We are really proud to be displaying these works, many of them out of context, so we’re looking forward to seeing its reception when MONEY TALKS – Art, Society & Power opens on Friday.
“It’s been a steep learning curve but I’ve really enjoyed curating this exhibition, so I hope everyone else enjoys it too,” he concludes.
MONEY TALKS – ART, SOCIETY & POWER runs at The Ashmolean from Aug 9 – Jan 5. Book at https://www.ashmolean.org/press/money-talks-art-society-press-release
