Sculpture
Genius Saeculi (Decayed)
Part of the BMAG Permanent Collection
Creator
Curtis William ReadelYear
TBD
Dimensions
12 × 6.5 × 5 in (30 × 17 × 13 cm)
Materials
Bronze
Location
BMAG Nashville
Collection
In the museum's care
Type
Sculpture
Exhibition
Paper MoneyAbout This Work
A bronze bust from the Genius Saeculi pair. Readel's presidential portraits deteriorate into skull-like forms; here the same decay is cast in metal.
Provenance
Exhibited
Paper Money, Oct 11 – Nov 29, 2026
About the Artist
Curtis William Readel
Curtis William Readel (American, b. 1981) is a Chicago-based artist and master printmaker whose work examines money, power, institutional authority, and the symbols embedded in American visual culture. He received a BFA from the University of Iowa and an MFA in Printmaking from Northern Illinois University. United States currency has been a recurring material and subject in his work since at least 2007, when he made pieces from shredded dollar bills. His MFA thesis turned the monuments printed on American currency into images of a collapsing empire, with presidential portraits deteriorating into skull-like forms. Readel is a co-founder of the Chicago print studio POP!NK Editions, established in 2014, where he has helped produce hand-pulled editions with artists including Hebru Brantley, Ryan Travis Christian, Carlos Rolon, Karl Wirsum, FUTURA, Swoon, and Ben Frost.
18 works in the BMAG collection
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