Australian-based artist Anthony White turns money symbols into art and brings in funds through Internet sales
YEPPOON, Australia, Sept. 13, 2007 — Self-taught conceptual Australian artist Anthony White was working as a stockbroker just a year and a half ago; now he’s a full-time artist who sells paintings featuring denotations of money and stock codes through his Web site (http://www.anthonywhite.net). His most successful series, The Money Series, has sold over 500 paintings to customers in over 20 countries.
White explained his transition to being a full-time artist: "When I started working for Credit Suisse First Boston I was well and truly over being the poor artist. During the last six years that I worked as a stockbroker I was able to acquire some property and more shares. I left that world in February [2006] to go back to art."
White launched The Money Series in April 2004 and entered the Yeppoon Rotary Art Competition with the Australian Dollar Series. The series has now expanded to include British pounds, US Dollars and Euros. These paintings are unique in that they sell for the amount painted on the canvas, and White doesn’t sell the next painting in each series until the previous one is sold.
"When I sell one of the paintings for the amount on the canvas I then work on selling the next one in the series. I sell the paintings in numeric order but you can reserve then in advance," said White on his Web site. Customers can email White to place a reservation for a number that hasn’t been sold yet, but the transaction won’t be finalized until White sells all of the paintings leading up to that number in a particular series.
White launched the Stock Code series after leaving his stockbroker job in February 2006. The paintings are all one-offs, and the same Stock Code will not be done twice unless it’s listed on more than one stock exchange. Some of the Stock Code paintings that have sold include the ones representing Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.
The Internet is an integral part of White’s artwork. "I see that the artists of tomorrow are the ones that are developing an Internet presence today," he writes on his Web site. "eBay has been very good. I would say don’t knock it [until] you’ve tried it. This could be the future of art sales."
About Anthony White
Anthony White is a self-taught conceptual artist based in Yeppoon (Central Queensland), Australia. He exhibits full-time on the Internet. Three of his recent works are on exhibit in the Rockhampton Art Gallery Collection. For more information and to see White’s artwork online, go to http://www.anthonywhite.net.
CONTACT:
Anthony White
07 4939 8006
anthony@anthonywhite.net
