Mark Wagner

Mark Wagner is a visual artist best known for his intricate collages made from U. S. currency. As he destroys dollar bills to make his intricate art, Wagner makes us question the very nature of money and value. The one dollar bill is the most ubiquitous piece of paper in America. Collage asks the question: what might be done to make it something else? It is a ripe material: intaglio printed on sturdy linen stock, covered in decorative filigree, and steeped in symbolism and concept. Blade and glue transform it-reproducing the effects of tapestries, paints, engravings, mosaics, and computers-striving for something bizarre, beautiful, or unbelievable... the foreign in the familiar.