Italian Artist Transforms the Familiar Faces of the U.S. Dollar, British Pound, and Chinese Yuan Into Superheroes

Italian artist Alessandro Rabatti‘s latest project “Facebank” features the familiar faces found on the U.S. five-dollar bill (President Lincoln), the British 50-pound note (Queen Elizabeth II) and the Chinese yuan/renminbi (Chairman Mao Zedong), which have been visually transformed into various comic book superheroes in a political commentary about power and money.

(translated) Through the reworking of some graphic details of the different banknote denominations of dollar, pound and Yuan / Renminbi, it creates a series of figures altered wishing reflect and convey the symbolic value of money, inviting reflection on the current economic crisis. In particular the focus is on the faces printed on paper money, which are decomposed and recomposed to dress in masks superhero, ironically seen as the only possible saviors of the current situation.