Cash Back

Mark Kostabi

Author

Mark Kostabi

Period

2024

Technique

Oil on canvas

Author

Mark Kostabi

Period

2024

Technique

Oil on canvas

Description of the Work

The work is an emblematic example of Mark Kostabi’s aesthetic, populated by his unmistakable faceless characters. The scene is an ironic and melancholy critique of contemporary society and its dependence on money and technology. Three featureless figures in saturated colors (blue, red, and teal) are lined up in front of a counter where a golden operator appears to be handing out bills.

The surreal and disturbing element is provided by the ATMs embedded directly in the backs of the figures, from which anonymous hands withdraw money. This detail suggests a humanity reduced to a pure economic resource, where the individual becomes the very instrument of consumption. In the background, a stylized urban skyline under a twilight sky accentuates the sense of metropolitan alienation. The light, which shapes the bodies with sharp, smooth hues, gives the figures a plastic monumentality, typical of Kostabi’s constant dialogue with Surrealism and De Chirico’s metaphysical painting.