This is the latest in a series of artwork made from Pennies and Euro Cents that the artist has been producing since the early 2000’s. His portraits include Queen Elizebeth II, businessman Mohammed Al Fayed, his portrait of Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Ben Bernanke, 14th Chair of Federal Reserve were purchased by a russian art collector and Sir Fred Goodwin, former Chief Executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland was also sold to a private collector.

The artist was also commissioned to produce a portrait of hip hop star JayZ using 22500 Swarovski crystals hand set in perspex which now hangs in the London Mansion of Tamara Eccelston, the model and socialite.

History of artists depicting leaders leader in contemporary art

Adrian Firth follows a long line of fellow artists who have subverted portraits of controversial and political figures. Andy Warhol depicted Chinese Premier Ho Chi Minh in the 60’s, Marcus Harvey depicted Margaret Thatcher in 2009 and Shepard Faireys ‘Hope’ poster of Obama in 2011.

Excerpt from Beam Editions, 2021

Works and Series