Cildo Meireles, Zero Cruzeiro. Two original signed banknote-works, 1978

Colour offset on paper, 7 x 15.6 cm, printed both sides. Each signed 'Cildo Meireles' in lower right. Distributed in an unlimited edition. The 'Zero Cruzeiro' works are a continuation of the artist's 'banknote project' initiated in 1970 in conjunction with the landmark exhibition 'Information' at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, in which Meireles printed politically subversive messages on notes of U.S. and Brazilian currency and entered them into national circulation. These 'Zero Cruziero' notes are designed similar to the then common bills, with images of pompous national symbols replaced by an indigenous man and a (political) prisoner. Provenance: directly from the artist.

Cildo Meireles (Rio de Janeiro, 1948) is an influential conceptual artist from Brazil. His works have a strong critical and political character. In a career spanning more than 60 years, he has exhibited all over the world including the Tate Modern London (2008) and Reina Sofía in Madrid (2013). He participated in Biennales of Venice (several times), Istanbul, São Paulo and many others as well as Documenta 11 in Kassel (2002). Recently, he received the prestigious Roswitha Haftmann Prize 2023.