Beauty is Life’s E-Z Pass

One Dollar bill embellished with bright colors and President Washington in drag.
Twenty Dollar bill embellished with bright colors and President Jackson in drag.
Reimagined ten dollar bill with bright colors and Alexander Hamilton in drag.
Fifty Dollar bill embellished with bright colors and President Grant in drag.
Five Dollar bill embellished with bright colors and President Lincoln in drag.
One Hundred Dollar bill embellished with bright colors and President Franklin in drag.

About

As a pop artist, Simmons loves and revels in the power of repetition, so printmaking (in particular, screenprinting) is a naturally alluring medium, as well as the theme of money. According to a Harvard study, those who make the decisions regarding hiring and reviewing at most companies tend to pay people they personally find attractive 12-14% more than those they do not. Beauty is Life’s E-Z Pass’ spoofs the stark reality that the decision to use beauty or sexuality to get ahead is often the decision between ease, integrity, and even safety.

While much of Simmons’ work explores beauty and hypocrisy in power, politics, and business decision-making, Simmons conceptualized this series during the 2015 debate over transgender rights and the restriction of gender-assigned restrooms. There was another controversy when the Treasury Department announced it was redesigning the $20 bill to feature a woman. The founding fathers, and the striking absence of female faces on US currency, are a fitting base for this revelation with their powdered wigs and frills that are both iconic and in contest with the “masculine” image of American history. Simmons targets and parodies the hypocrisy of this irony, further embellishing their portraits through color, feminization, and sparkle in these works.

DIMENSIONS: 16.5(h) x 27.5(w) each
MEDIUM: Original, Hand-Pulled Silkscreen, Mixed Media and Drawing on Paper; Each one of a Kind
YEAR: 2015

Two framed artworks of US currency with the presidents depicted in drag and pop colors.
Two screenprints of US currency featuring fifty dollar bill with President Grant and one dollar bill with President Washington in bright colors on a dark blue wall.
Cozy interior corner featuring two framed artworks of creatively modified U.S. banknotes on a light wall. The top frame displays a five-dollar bill with a vibrantly colored Abraham Lincoln, and the bottom one presents a whimsical fifty-dollar bill wi
Two framed screenprints of US currenty with Presidents wearing makeup and jewlery against a yellow wall.
Three framed artworks displayed vertically on a rustic terracotta wall. Each artwork mimics the design of a US banknote, with each note featuring a different vividly colored portrait of the president. The setting is complemented by a wooden sideboard
Three framed artworks displayed on a wall, each featuring stylized U.S. banknotes. The top frame showcases a $50 bill with a colorful portrait of Ulysses S. Grant wearing sunglasses. The middle piece is a vibrant $5 bill with a pink and green-tinted
Hallway with five framed pop style artworks of US currency with presidents in drag and neon colors.