Contemporary Art New York

Justine Smith

English (Born 1971)

The primary material used by Justine Smith to create her delicate and fragile-seeming artworks is money; paper money from all around the world. As she describes it: “The power invested in these pieces of paper is immense, and for me, it is like working with an elemental force.” In our capitalist world, money or the lack of it, governs almost every aspect of our lives, and her work seeks to explore money as a conduit of power, and it’s capacity to impact upon us in a political, social and moral sense. On a physical level a banknote is just a piece of paper, but it is what a banknote actually represents that gives her work its significance.
Justine has exhibited in galleries and museums around the world for the past 15 years and her works are in many well known public and private collections including those of Lord Rothschild, Sir Peter Blake, A A Gill, Nicole Kidman, Sophie Conran, the British Government Collection and The British Council.

Justine Smith- CV