The New Religion

Is capitalism and wealth our new religion? In God we trust? Or is it the iconostasis of Benjamin Franklin that we pray to nowadays?

In this playful work, Mihov examines those questions. Having frequented Rila Monestary as a child whose grand parents lived half an hour away from it, Mihov was always fascinated with the influence religion has on society. Now he explores if capitalism has fundamentally replaced our values and beliefs in much the same way a religion can do.

The work’s blue background is a nod to art history and the fact that blue has long been associated with the rich and divine, from the ancient Egyptians who discovered it to the traditions of depicting Virgin Mary. The gold chains and Rolex-like crown are nods again to our consumerist society and arguably the fact that Benjamin Franklin has become the face of a new religion and perhaps a figure he would not be wanting to represent if alive. Hence also why the artist has shifted marginally but sufficiently his smile from the absolute smirk we associate the 100 dollar bill with, to a somewhat more tentative expression.

The artwork is available in both physical and NFT formats, this being the latter. The NFT was build using an HD photograph of the physical work, creating a unique digital print of the canvas and maintaining the fingerprints of the artist. The work is part of the Broken Capitalism series by the artist, which has been exhibited with Hatch Art Project in Singapore, UBS and featured with the likes of Forbes and Mensfolio, among others.