Worth 2 Billion I’m Told

2 Halves as A Whole, Illuminati Confirmed, 2023, acrylic coins, gems, googly eyes

Worth 2 Billion I’m Told defined the priceless currency of popular culture through the bejewelled shutter shades of contemporary artist duo 2 Halves as A Whole.

2 Halves as A Whole is the brainchild of Naarm based artists Ali Bagnato and Paige Templeton. The duo began their collaborative practice in 2022 out of their shared interest in celebrity culture, the rise of technology and their parallel experiences growing up in the era of Gen Z internet humour.

Celebrating excess, rudimentary materials and #SWAG, the artists dive deep into seminal 2000s popular culture to reshape the 21st century in accordance with their somewhat delusional, idealistic, and inward world views. Worth 2 Billion I’m Told invites viewers into the colourful mindscape of Bagnato and Templeton: utterly ironic, paradoxically intelligent curated chaos and calculated crudeness. Despite the origins of several works, having been created on extinct computer platforms, such as Kahootz, alluding to iconic songs by LMFAO and Katy Perry, or taking the form of Hama beads melted with a $7 kitchen iron, Worth 2 Billion I’m Told presents nothing but ‘high art’ with a puzzling adherence to ‘White Cube’ institutional conventions.

Concerned with the effects of technology and celebrity idolatry on the human condition, 2 Halves as A Whole pose questions: “Is this really what we care about?”, “Wasn’t she cancelled?”, “Has it been that long?” In some perverse way, Worth 2 Billion I’m Told serves as an educational locale; one that analyses industry, invention, and societal progress. 

This exhibition was a proud participant of Midsumma Festival 2024.

When

Location

Maroondah Federation Estate Gallery, 32A Greenwood Avenue, Ringwood, 3134, View map