How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the International Monetary System

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the International Monetary System is an exhibition of watercolor paintings and large scale graphite wall drawings that explore the visual characteristics and underlying behaviors of fiat currencies.  Fiat currencies are paper monetary systems willed into existence by government or para-government agencies. Their values are entirely defined by decree, without being backed by physical commodities, such as gold. The functions of these fiat systems are constantly challenged as they encounter real world circumstances, their values endlessly changing in cycles of expansion, decay, and political upheaval. Most modern currencies are fiat currencies.

The paintings and drawings in this exhibition derive their imagery and compositional strategies from failed and devalued fiat currencies. The works use this imagery to evoke the precise but unpredictable logics that characterize the function and dysfunction of these monetary systems in diverse economies across the globe, systems that operate in simultaneously helpful and indifferent relation to human need and desire. How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the International Monetary System includes large scale site-specific graphite wall drawings and watercolor paintings inspired by, and using devalued money that reinterpret the imagery and functioning of these systems, finding alternative forms of value and meaning in their reinvention.

Showing
Thursday, Sept 10, 2015 through Saturday Oct 17, 2015
Gallery hours: Thursday – Saturday, 12:00 – 6:00 pm and by appointment
Free and open to the public

Opening Reception and Artist Discussion

Saturday, Sept 12, 2015
Discussion of fiat money systems with Dr. Tim Essenberg from 6:30 - 7:00pm
Reception follows from 7:00 - 9:00pm
Free and open to the public
 

About the Artist 

Kenneth Steinbach is an artist who uses a variety of media and approaches, but works principally in sculpture. Recent solo exhibits include a solo exhibit at Circa Gallery in Minneapolis, The New Forests of Thoreau’s America at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, Theories of Forgetting at St. John’s University, and Trace/Decay at Bethel University. Kenneth is the recipient of numerous grants in direct support of his work and research, and was recently awarded the Arlin G. Meyer prize in Visual Arts from the Lilly Fellows Foundation and an Edgren Scholars Grant from Bethel University.  He is Professor of Art in Sculpture at Bethel University in St. Paul, where he teaches studio courses, including a class in Creative Practices.  Recently, he has been researching the habits and strategies of mid career artists that supports long-term creative viability with the goal of providing resources for younger artists.

 

Dr. Tim Essenburg

Tim is Professor of Economics, Bethel University, and has a keen interest in the revitalization of lower-income, urban neighborhoods. Most recently he co-authored and edited, with Lindsey Hanson, New Faces of American Poverty: A Reference Guide to the Great Recession. Essenburg considers culture the starting point of a Liberal Arts education, and therefore frames his courses in term of culture and institutions, challenging students to think critically about happiness, meaningfulness, and primary justice, at the individual, organizational and structural levels. He and his family have lived in the East Phillips Neighborhood of south Minneapolis for 24 years, where in 1998 he and Joani Essenburg co-founded the Banyan Community, a community development organization focused on developing youth, strengthening families and building community. In September Banyan Community will break ground on its $5.7 million permanent facility.