From a fine art background, through the world's most secretive design and print techniques, Tom Badley makes the product that buys all products: money.
What is money? Money is love, fear, greed, life... money is the mirror of Humanity. Tom Badley specializes in the graphic and print techniques that are the public-facing brand of our financial system.
Is his work functional currency? Art in the image of money? Harmless printing... or the most disruptive and transgressive form of art since Dadaism? You decide...
"I was head-hunted by one of the world’s largest printers of banknotes, creating designs for central banks and other financial institutions. After learning the trade secrets of banknote production, I gained practical experience in every print process associated with the production of money.
The Banknote is the Alpha and Omega of art: it is pattern, typography, portraiture, drawing. It is lithography, silkscreen, intaglio, letterpress. A banknote is the touchstone of culture, the window into worlds, a monument, memorial, and memory. Banknotes are mass-produced, yet personal. Identical, yet crafted.
I use banknote design to express my ideas, and contribute to the future of finance, through fintech, blockchain and cryptocurrency collaborations.
I come from a fine art background, based on technique and craft. I reject lazy conceptualism, and make craft the basis of everything I do.
I studied Fine Art at Leeds College, the Slade School of Fine Art, (London), and the Cooper Union School in New York. My work has been shown with Phyllida Barlow at the Serpentine, The Mall Galleries, Tenderpixel London and Rokeby Gallery."
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Content by Tom Badley & friends: cryptoart / NFTs / digital assets / philosophy / art history / current events & more...