Basel | ArtRegion: Basel - Oberrhein

Arte Wallhoff

Lesley Schiff:  Money Talks & Face Values

30. Mai – 30. Juni 2024

“PHOTO-PRINTS “ THE ART OF PAINTING WITH LIGHT           LESLEY.SCHIFF, 1951 USA

Lesley Schiff/ New Yorkan Artist, is a pioneer artist whose independent spirit has grasped the hilt of laser technology and cut an uncharted path into the boundless dominions of Fine Art.  As a result of her visionary intentions, her artwork is the first of this technology to be purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

LESLEY SCHIFF/ MONEY-TALKS & FACE VALUES / USA 1998

Lesley Schiff is a Fine Artist whose work has been acquired by major museums, corporate and private collections globally.  Schiff is also a pioneering artist whose independent spirit has grasped the concept of laser technology.  She has cut a hitherto uncharted path into the boundless dominions of art and has revolutionized the photocopier.  Far from being just an office tool, she has transformed it into an artist’s instrument to use the photocopier like a paintbrush to realize her artistic vision.

Previously a painter, Schiff says:

“I never intended to stop painting.  I just decided to start painting with a modern tool. Working with the color laser printer keeps you in your culture.  It’s like America.  Plugged in.  Electronic.  Direct.  Visual.   Spontaneous.   Immediate.  It goes as fast as your brain and the result is instantaneous.  It combines photography and painting− but my intention is to make a painting, not a photograph.”

Painting with light, Schiff’s body of work outlines a cycle of life in terms of the themes: man, woman, child, civilization, nature, and technology.  Her more recent works challenge the viewer to understand the concept of eye-levels and perspectives, reinventing the way we see.

In a post-modern world and which inform, and are informed by, the symbolic content of everyday objects and their perception. On a critical note, we could suggest that that which angels once signified on a symbolical, emotional and spiritual level, has nowadays been replaced by labels, although not entirely true as is shown in our continuing belief in “guardian angels” and the present diverse representation of angels to which Lesley Schiff connects in her work.

We are glad to welcome you to our Exhibition “Money-Talks & Face-Value “ A Work Collection by Lesley Schiff- year 1998

 Money Talks & Face Values

Arising out of the artistic work entitled Face Value, and Money Talks was conceived in order to show the power of what money can do. Photographs of scenes from the varying countries were superimposed behind and in front of the bank notes. The translucent blue or red was chosen to achieve the stained-glass effect of the work to create an inspired look at the best achievements and intentions of humanity. Although the United States was not represented, at the finish of her work the artist decided that it looked like Fifth Avenue at lunch time, the Great American experiment, all the peoples of the world coexisting agreeably and peacefully side by side. Along with the Artists inspiration for creating these pieces of work, it is the Artists tribute to fellow artists, engravers and designers whose depictions of bank notes and history have given their currencies an educational as well as a monetary value.

Face Value is a portrait of the Money of at least sixty different countries. The actual currency was placed directly onto the Artist’s color laser photocopier. Embassies and national almanacs were used to research into who the faces on each bank note were. The appearance of each of the five sections of this artwork was determined by the aspect of the faces themselves and the artistic decision as to which ones could keep each other company, either by what they had done for their country or by how they related to each other politically and socially.

Sources : https://www.lesleyschiff.com and https://www.samvladimirsky.com/lesley