What would happen if the very faces on our money decided they’d had enough?
In NO COMPLY, the icons of U.S. currency—Jefferson ($2), Lincoln ($5), Jackson ($20), Grant ($50), and Franklin ($100)—stage a symbolic escape. They are no longer the silent guardians of the dollar; they rise from their bills in protest, rejecting a system that quietly drains value from the very people it claims to serve.
These were not passive men. Jefferson warned that inflation was “the most unjust tax.” Jackson dismantled a central bank in his time. Franklin believed that devaluing the currency was theft. Lincoln and Grant fought for a freer, fairer future. None of them would have accepted today’s silent theft: inflation.
Their rebellion is loud, visual, and deliberate: WE WON´T BE COMPLICIT.
To create this piece, Flo Montoya combined digital and manual processes. The first layer was constructed digitally and then printed. The second—a bold hand-printed silkscreen—was overlaid onto the first. The composition was then photographed and professionally printed, resulting in seven original final pieces. Each is signed by the artist, preserving the craft, the message, and the revolt.
