ARTICLE PROFILES MONEY ARTIST PENNY

British stencil artist Penny is known for his super tiny and intricate works on anything from currency to items as small as a postage stamp. Penny is constantly pushing himself to create stencil works that are not only beautiful, but convey a message. Currently showing his work with Plastic Jesus at Krause Gallery in New York City Penny took some time out of his crazy schedule to discuss his work, and his new show.

For those not familiar with you or your work give me a brief background who of who you are, and what you do…?

I’m Penny, a stencil artist from London, specializing in tiny acts of treason on banknotes.

Ha! Have you ever actually had any legal troubles for defacing currency?

I was exhibiting some work on Yen at a gallery in Japan and they were threatened with closure by the authorities if they didn’t remove the offending artwork, crime’s very low over there so the police are looking for things to do I guess. The worst I’ve had in the UK is the occasional death threat from offended royalists – They’d be horrified to find out I’ve had pieces commissioned by The Bank of England!

So how did you get into the stencil medium & working with currency? Are you classically trained or learned on the job?

I cut my first stencils 16 years ago at Central Saint Martins. I took a graphic design degree course there and was so poor at the time I couldn’t afford printing costs, so got by with almost every project using paint, paper and a scalpel. Ever since then I’ve been trying to push the boundaries on what is possible with those rudimentary tools.

The currency angle came about almost by accident – I was posting photos of my miniature stencil pieces online and realized that even the very smallest of stencils ends up the same size as the largest murals when viewed on computer screens, I thought I would be a good idea to paint on a surface everyone knows, so they instantly understand the scale. Banknotes also come loaded with meaning and and visual interest, hijacking that and subverting it in someway to deliver a message was very appealing.

Do you have a particular bank note that sticks out to you as a favorite?

I’ve become a bit of a banknote geek since taking them on as my predominate substrate to paint on, I could give you about 20 notes I really love for various reasons – My personal favorite is probably the Lowther Fifty Pound, from around the late 1990’s, it’s such a beautifully ornate banknote with a very British feel. It’s also got the queen staring at you with a kind of half grin, which makes it such a good background to piggyback ideas onto.

Another favorite has to be the One Dollar bill, it’s remain unchanged for about 110 years and is the archetypal global currency. When you think of money you think of the One Dollar bill, with all its connotations of power, dominance and greed – It’s the perfect surface to add an image to and create a piece with a message, as so much meaning is already imbued within the note itself.

To read the complete article, see:
Interview: Penny (https://streetartnews.net/2017/04/interview-penny.html)

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