Fri 10/19 @ 5-9PM
Local gallery visitors may remember seeing Cleveland artist Josh Usmani’s “funny money,” his intricate, colorful drawings on actual currency from various countries. They got an in-depth look at this work when it was on display at 78th Street Studios’ Tregoning Gallery in late spring 2015.
Tregoning, which represents Usmani, will be showing his new work in the vein in its upcoming show Altered Value: The Art of Funny Money. The show is also a celebration of the release of Usmani’s book of the same name, a 224-page, full-color volume featuring more than 150 of his drawings on currency from about three dozen countries.
“Ten years ago, Josh Usmani quit his full-time day job to pursue a career as a professional artist without a penny to his name,” the press release tells us. “Months later, the 2008 economic meltdown sent his new aspirations spiraling into uncertainty. Serendipitously, Usmani’s lifelong monetary problems became the inspiration for artwork on currency, exploring the value of creative expression. What began as a tongue-in-cheek political protest ten years ago has evolved into a visually spectacular and thoughtfully creative exploration of value itself.”
“In an age of hyperinflation in the art market, I believe that turning money into art and back into more money is the most appropriate response to the reality of the current situation,” says Usmani.
The show remains on view through Sat 12/1 with a second reception Fri 11/16 @ 5-9pm. Books will be available at the gallery.