NOME Gallery presents an exhibition that revolves around the etymology of the word “currency” that relates to flowing, running, and circulating. Aligned with this liquid condition, “₡ U R ₹ € ₦ ₢ ¥” brings together works that deal with money as a channel, money as a concept, money as a formal (or informal) structure.
In the United States, the birth of Conceptual Art overlapped with the end of the Gold Standard, and since then, the entwinement of art and finance has become evermore abstracted. The artworks assembled in “₡ U R ₹ € ₦ ₢ ¥” make manifest a double value – that of the artwork on the market, and that of the money and materials employed to make this work.
From Agnieszka Kurant’s representation of multiple forms of currency to Michal Helfman’s drawing inspired by the greenish imagery of the US dollar, and Pratchaya Phinthong’s installation around the exchange of rice in his native Thailand; from Paolo Cirio’s imagination of a new virtual currency to Goldin+Senneby’s bound documents of confidential trading strategies, acquired in exchange for artworks.
These artworks perform in various ways the acrobatics of the complex relationships between art and money.
“₡ U R ₹ € ₦ ₢ ¥”, curated by Lucie Fontaine, NOME Gallery, 02.03 – 19.04.2019
Artists: Marco Cassani, Paolo Cirio, Goldin+Senneby, Igor Grubić, Michal Helfman, Agnieszka Kurant, Navid Nuur, Pratchaya Phinthong, Ana Prvački, David Rickard, Miri Segal, Slavs and Tatars, and Jan Tichy
images: (cover 1) Navid Nuur, «Hyped by History, Hypnotized by Memory», 1976-2019. Two 5 Euro cents coins, one pressed with the fingerprint of the artist, variable dimensions. Courtesy of the artist (2) Agnieszka Kurant,«Currency Converter», 2018. UV print on Plexiglas with aluminum mount (photo); pigment print on archival paper (map), 95.9 x 117.2 cm (framed map); 95.9 x 137.5 cm (overall). Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles (3) Paolo Cirio, «(W)orld Currency», 2014. Digital print, document printed on A4 paper sheet, variable dimensions. Courtesy of the artist and NOME, Berlin (4) Marco Cassani, «Fountain (Gunung Kawi)», 2017. Found and collected foreign and Indonesian coins from the Gunung Kawi temple fountain, 205 x 2,5 ø cm. Courtesy of the artist and Honold Fine Art, Bali
