by Maria Sofou
Artist James Charles transforms dollar bills into pop culture inspired portraits and the result is amazing!
The ‘mutant’ bills feature a wide range of portraits from famous painters to movie characters and singers: their presidents’ faces are transformed into pop culture icons such as Justin Bieber, Yoda, Willy Wonka, Princess Leia, Spock, even Ronald McDonald, the famous mascot, while other dollar bills feature Einstein, Frida Kahlo, Vincent Van Gogh, Iggy Pop, Jimmy Hendrix and many more. His figures are certainly widely recognizable, however, each face has a small script under it, in case we miss them.
Charles only uses ink and paint to trace and re-write on the bills, putting aside the value of money by drawing not only on 5 and 10 dollar bills but on 50s and 100s too. The alterations are so expert that his incredibly careful and painstaking ink work looks like it was styled to resemble money – however, if you take a closer look, you will realize that these tiny canvases are genuine greenbacks.
Amazing work. Check it out:
