Josh Usmani

Altered Value
The Art of Funny Money

Opens October 19, 2018
    On October 19, 2018, the Cleveland, Ohio-based 1984 Publishing (1984publishing.com) will release Altered Value: The Art of Funny Money by Josh Usmani. The 224-page, full-color, lavish hardbound book collects more than 150 of Usmani’s original, unique drawings on real currency from more than 35 countries. The book’s release will coincide with an exhibition of new work from the book at Tregoning & Company at 78th Street Studios.

  Ten years ago, Josh Usmani quit his full-time day job to pursue a career as a professional artist without a penny to his name. Months later, the 2008 economic meltdown sent his new aspirations spiraling into uncertainty. Serendipitously, Usmani’s lifelong monetary problems became the inspiration for artwork on currency, exploring the value of creative expression. What began as a tongue-in-cheek political protest ten years ago has evolved into a visually spectacular and thoughtfully creative exploration of value itself.  
 
   Usmani believes that value is an abstract concept, and as a society, we use money to measure worth between various, unrelated goods and services. However, he argues that in our capitalistic society money has become a coveted symbol of value itself. By drawing directly on actual bills, Josh encourages viewers to explore creative expression and question the concept of value itself. He has certainly altered these notes’ worth, but whether Josh has increased or decreased their value is up to each viewer to decide.

  “In an age of hyperinflation in the art market, I believe that turning money into art and back into more money is the most appropriate response to the reality of the current situation,” - Usmani

  Altered Value: The Art of Funny Money retails for $40 USD and will be available online via Amazon and bookstores worldwide. The first 500 copies of the book will be signed and numbered by the artist. In addition to the artwork, Altered Value includes a foreword by noted currency collage artist Mark Wagner, an introduction to the project by Usmani (including a “Frequently Asked Questions” page), step-by-step process notes, and additional contextual information in selected captions. For the first time, viewers have unprecedented access into the artist’s intentions and creative process.

  50 copies of a limited Artist Edition ($100 USD) will also be available via 1984Publishing.com. The Artist Edition contains a real dollar bill with hand-colored letters and numbers, as well as a full-color clown portrait – just like the ones seen in Altered Value (valued at $100 USD). As an added bonus, one out of every ten copies of the Artist Edition will contain a randomly-inserted, original, fully-rendered Funny Money drawing ($450 USD value).  

  The book launch exhibition takes place from 5 to 9 p.m. EST on Friday, October 19 at Tregoning & Company (1300 West 78th Street, Cleveland, OH). The work will remain on view through December 1 during regular business hours or by appointment. A second reception will take place on from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday, November 16, as well a speaking engagement and book signing to be announced soon. All events are free and open to the public.

FUNNY MONEY II
May 15th-June 19th, 2015

Everybody has an opinion about money.
Change your perspective on its meaning and value:
"Aside from enjoying himself (and he's having a ball), Usmani asks some subtle questions about authenticity and ownership, at the intersection of public and private space.  Like graffitti, his embellishments grab a piece of public surface and use it as a personal billboard."- Douglas Max Utter
Read more about Josh Usmani's new exhibit at Tregoning & Company in the Cleveland Scene article, "Faces and Denominations Get Updated With An Artist's Deft Touch" by Douglas Max Utter.
Josh Usmani

Born 1985, Cleveland, OH

EDUCATION

B.A. in Studio Art (Painting), Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, May 2013

 SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2015

FUNNY MONEY II, Tregoning & Company, 78th Street Studios, Cleveland, OH

2013

FUNNY MONEY, Naji, Naji and Tekler, 78th Street Studios, Cleveland, OH

Untitled Exhibition, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, CWRU, Cleveland, OH

2011

Who the Hell is Josh Usmani?, Breakneck Gallery, Lakewood, OH

 
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

(complete list of over 100 exhibitions available upon request)

2014

PEN PALS: Transatlantic Collaborations, Gallery One Sixty, Cleveland, OH (Rachel Strongoli, Daniel Andersson-Boe (Sweden) and Josh Usmani)

DayGlo III, Doubting Thomas Gallery, Cleveland, OH

Optical Delusions, Annual Benefit, SPACES Cleveland, OH

21st People’s Art Show, The Galleries at Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH

Drawn In, Sandusky Cultural Center, Sandusky, OH

Under Construction, ARTneo Annual Benefit Art Auction, 78th Street Studios, Cleveland, OH

CAN Journal Annual Benefit Art Auction, Morgan Conservatory, Cleveland, OH

Monster Drawing Rally, SPACES, Cleveland, OH

3D Show, Sandusky Cultural Center, Sandusky, OH

NUMBERS, Sanudsky Cultural Center, Sandusky, OH

2013

Winter Art Invitational, Wasmer Gallery, Ursuline College, Pepper Pike, OH

Obsolete, Studio 2091, Cuyahoga Falls, OH

Distorted Portraits, Breakneck Gallery, Lakewood, OH

50/50 Show, 78th Street Studios, Cleveland, OH

Tall Walls, Loren Naji Studio Gallery, Cleveland, OH

Crunchy: Sugary Coated Cartoon Art for Big Kids, Waterloo Arts, Cleveland, OH

Rust Belt Rivalry: CLE vs. PITT, Most Wanted Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA and Waterloo Arts Fest,

Cleveland, OH

Idea Culture, University of Akron, Akron OH and FORUM Art Space, 78th Street Studios,

Cleveland, OH

42nd Annual Student Show and Merit Scholar Exhibition, The Galleries at Cleveland State

University, Cleveland, OH

4U, Zygote Press, Cleveland, OH

Animatopoeia (Student Section), The Galleries at Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH

Squared, Sandusky Cultural Center, Sandusky, OH


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS (cont’d.)

2012

Luminescence, Doubting Thomas Gallery, Cleveland, OH

20th People’s Art Show, The Galleries at Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH

Cleveland vs. Pittsburgh II, Garfield Art Works, Pittsburgh, PA

Gold, Sandusky Cultural Center, Sandusky, OH

Who is Deborah Ellen Shore?, Survival Kit Gallery, 78th Street Studios, Cleveland, OH

Feeds, Ingenuity Fest, Cleveland, OH

Vinyl Visions, Hollywood Theater, Pittsburgh, PA

50/50 Show, Dredger’s Union, Cleveland, OH

41st Annual Student Show and Merit Scholar Exhibition, Wooltex Gallery, Cleveland, OH

CSU Arts Campus Grand Opening Gala, CSU Arts Campus, Cleveland, OH

Studio Skateboard, Sandusky Cultural Center, Sandusky, OH

2011

2307: The Final Exhibition (Student Section), CSU Art Gallery, Cleveland, OH

Annual Members’ Show, Waterloo Arts, Cleveland, OH

40th Annual Student Show and Merit Scholar Exhibitions, CSU Art Gallery (Chester location), Cleveland, OH

2010

19th People’s Art Show

39th Annual Student Show and Merit Scholar Exhibition, CSU Art Gallery, Cleveland, OH

 
CORPORATE COLLECTIONS

Main Sequence Technologies (Kirtland, OH)

 
AWARDS

2013

Honorable Mention, Waterloo Arts Annual Members Show, May 2013

2012

Best of Drawing Award, 41st Annual Student Art Show, Wooltex Gallery, Cleveland, OH, May 2012

Best Work on Paper (Drawing and Printmaking combined category), 40th Annual Student Art Show, CSU

2011

Art Gallery (Chester Location), May 2011

2nd Place, Red Bull Energy’s Gripped Canvas, Pop Shop Gallery, Lakewood, OH


BIBLIOGRAPHY

2015

Gill, Michael, Detailed Event Listing for FUNNY MONEY II, CAN Journal, Spring 2015, page 72 (image, page 73)

2014

Grzegorek, Vince, “Say Hello to Your New Visual Arts Editor, Josh Usmani”, Cleveland Scene Magazine, September 2014

(http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2014/09/09/say-hello-to-your-new-visual-arts-editor-josh-usmani)

Naji, Loren, “Loren Naji Presents Funny Money, a Mural Opportunity and a Cubed Moon”, CAN Journal, Winter 2013/2014, page 22 (additional image and event listing, page 52)

Ayala, Linda, “Interview with a Curator: Josh Usmani on ‘Controversy’ ”, Wall Eye Gallery Blog, December 2011

(http://walleyegallery.blogspot.com/2011/12/interview-with-curator-josh-usmani-on.html)

 
LINKS TO PUBLISHED ARTICLES:

Cleveland Scene Magazine:

(http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/ArticleArchives?author=4380421)

Cool Cleveland:

(http://coolcleveland.com/blog/category/writers/josh-usmani/)

My Favorite Event of the Year (Guest Writer for SPACES’ Blog):

(http://www.spacesgallery.org/blog/2014/03)

 
PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION

2015

35th Annual Scholastic Arts + Writing Competition, Juror, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH,

January 2015

National Arts Program Annual Exhibition, Juror, Waterloo Arts, Cleveland, OH, November 2014

19 Action News, Interview Regarding State Liquor Agents’ Raid of Loren Naji Studio Gallery, May 2014

On Art Writing, Art Writers Panel Discussion, Lunch on Fridays, Cleveland Institute of Art, April 2014

Monster Drawing Rally, Flyer Image Design, SPACES, April 2014

PEN PALS, Artist Talk, Gallery One Sixty, Cleveland, OH, April 2014

2013

CSU @ CWAL, Curator, Cleveland West Art League, 78th Street Studios, January 2013

2012

METAMORPHOSIS: A Benefit for the Nagy Family, Curator, Waterloo Arts (then Arts Collinwood),

Cleveland, OH, February 2012

2011

Controversy, Curator, Zaller Gallery, Cleveland, OH, December 2011