Two days ago, I check the mail and discover one of those letters with a translucent window. Money!
Indeed. Chase had kindly closed one of my accounts (upon request). Lo — a whopping $.01 remained. Fortunately, someone decided, “by the time we invoice, cut, print and mail this check — we’ll be $2.45 in the hole — let’s send the thing.”
To honor this effort, instead of cashing “Exactly Zero Dollars and One Cent” — I decided to make it art. How far can a penny go? We’re about to find out. Bidding began at $100 — and is already up to $177.50 — an appreciation of 1,775,000%.
The auction ends on Friday… I’m donating 50% to the Teton Valley Foundation, so keep smashing that bid button. Oh, and to my dear friends around the world — for some reason, my international shipping option did not publish… if you are interested, I have a workaround.
The Process
This piece was created during breaks from my 8th Guggenheim, coordinating a new commission, working on a new interview for Forbes and planning a trip to Seattle. In other words — it was cathartic. The idea to make this art came instantly… I posted it on Facebook, and the demand was enough to proceed.
And now… for a blow-by-blow recap… in photos.
The initial, free-wheeling first draft.
Ultimately, I deconstructed the first layout, and began building the image. Andy Warhol is affectionately canoodling the check. In ‘The Andy Warhol Diaries’, he begins one entry, “Went to church and while I was kneeling and praying for money…” — love that. Then, we have Marilyn Monroe from her infamous ‘Playboy’ debut emerging from the check, atop a stack of antiquated, blurry cash from Mario Puzo’s ‘Inside Las Vegas’. Below, that’s hockey player/artist William Wegman, scolding the paltry sum. James Cagney is firing a three-penny-discount at Humphrey Bogart, while Wendy (Shelley Duvall) is petrified by the penny.
For good measure, I added the ‘Standard‘ Ed Ruscha, a few Basquiat strips, random words, some of Andy’s Marilyns, and, to top it off, a lower-mandible-free diamond skull, by Damien Hirst.
For some reason, I felt like creating triangles, which were really inspired Russian Constructivism and its prouns.
The tones were taken from the Marilyns — no need to alter an excellent palette.
And here it is… let’s see who ends up with this baby!
A closer look at how standard can be crazy.
Bad. Bad penny!
New Paintings. Works-in-Progress. Insider Art Market Information.
Another newsletter? You got that right. I'll honor and respect your inbox, as if it were my own. I endeavor to share everything happening at Borbay Studios & Gallery. No daily updates. No weekly updates. Simply a message, every month or two... updates on life, creativity, and the journey that began on July 2, 2009. Let's be in touch, as the first leg of my quest reaches completion in 2026. From a studio in my 600-foot Upper East Side apartment living room, to a museum collection. Oh, but friend, that is just the beginning. The road is long, and I am looking for cool, sophisticated company to navigate each challenging turn.
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