Embarking upon The Great Swindle series before the financial crisis really took hold of the world, Montoya saw bank-notes as ready-made painted surfaces, as snapshots of time, theatres in which political propaganda and historic events play out. Yet these paintings come with their own pre-assigned commercial value which forms the basis of all international trade, relations and infrastructure, resulting in artwork saturated with layers of meaning.
The inescapable connotation of money is evident in the piece Money Talks. Here, looking at the tensions within international trade, Montoya brings together the currencies of eastern and western superpowers with bank-notes from China and the United States of America.
