Financal crisis art is totally derivative
HISTORICALLY, some of the world’s finest artworks have been inspired by events at the time; Picasso’s Guernica, Hogarth’s Rake’s Progress, Banksy’s Jubilee-themed sweatshop boy on the wall of Poundland. So financial crisis-inspired artist Larry McGinity is in very good company.
McGinity has created 14 paintings for his exhibition: The Financial Crisis Show: Art As A Derivative. The pieces, which have titles such as High Frequency Trading and MF Global, are showing at the Hay Hill Gallery on Baker Street (until 1 Feb if you’re game).
The paintings are driven by an interest in the way people explained the financial crisis and are made of text, including the hallowed words of Lord [Mervyn] King and George Soros, intermingled with bright flashes of colour.
The exhibition has had plenty of relevant visitors, “I’ve had people here from all the big banks, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Lloyds, Goldman Sachs… The word I’ve heard most is ‘intrigued’,” McGinity told The Capitalist.
Will the City’s financial firms be in a huge rush to buy up the pieces? We’re not sure, but we bet the former governor never dreamed his speeches would be deemed a work of art.