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Art Basel Miami Beach; Reoccurring Currency Theme

Mark Wagner

Mark Wagner

Mark Wagner

Mark Wagner

December 3, 2013, Miami Project Art Fair VIP Opening Event; From every direction, people are coming together to participate and celebrate art. A wonderful experience to be part of, to say the least!

Entering the Miami Project event, a piece that caught my attention was “Overgrown Empire” by Mark Wagner. It not only claimed my attention for being near the entrance, but also because of the material being used for the art. The artist uses American currency to develop his master pieces. Why would he use money? And why American currency? Thinking about these two simple questions while looking at Mr. Wagner’s art left a memorable impression on me. Perhaps because it was the first piece I stopped to look at during my stay in Miami. Honestly, I really don’t know, but Wagner’s art had influenced me in such a way that I began to notice other art with references to currency throughout the Art Basel.

I was fortunate to have received invitations to various events throughout the Art Basel like Untitled, Pulse Miami and Miami Project to name a few. My stay in Miami Beach lasted 4 nights and every day I saw art until my brain couldn’t process it anymore. While looking at art, I used my Instagram account to curate some of the pieces that I liked from the event, here!

Below, please see some of the art pieces that I photographed to illustrate my inquisitiveness regarding the subject. Moreover, I had asked two of my good friends Jocelyn Gilead and Miranda Pierce to help me by photographing any art that they may notice throughout the Art Basel with references to money.

**You may notice that some of the photos here are missing the artist’s credit.  If you the reader know the artist please leave a comment with the artist’s name and I will make the update.

Dan Tague

Dan Tague

Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe

Ambreen Butt 

Ambreen Butt
 

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Andrew Schoultz

Andrew Schoultz

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Ebony G. Patterson

Ebony G. Patterson

** Photograph by Miranda Pierce

** Photograph by Miranda Pierce

** Photograph by Jocelyne Gilead

** Photograph by Jocelyne Gilead