Mel Bochner’s Money is a vivid, textured meditation on the language of wealth and the cultural mythology built around it. Using his signature impasto lettering, Bochner layers slang, idioms, and colloquial expressions—“DO-RE-MI,” “BIG BUCKS,” “FILTHY LUCRE,” “MOOLA,” “ROOT OF ALL EVIL”—into a cascading verbal inventory of how society talks about money. Each word is sculpted in thick, tactile paint that rises off the surface, transforming language into physical objecthood. The exuberant palette of pinks, purples, oranges, and metallics underscores the seduction and absurdity of the vocabulary, turning familiar phrases into both visual spectacle and critique.

As with many of Bochner’s text-based works, Money operates on several levels at once: it is playful yet pointed, humorous yet incisive. Beneath the colorful surface lies a deeper commentary on desire, capitalism, and the emotional charge embedded in everyday speech. By elevating casual slang into monumental, painterly form, Bochner reveals how language shapes our understanding of value—not just economically, but psychologically and culturally. Money is both a celebration and a warning, a dazzling reminder of how powerfully words can mold our relationship with the world’s most loaded subject.