Money matters: Yuken Teruya’s ’Monopoly’ at Pippy Houldsworth

Money does sort of grow on trees; the old fashioned grubby paper kind of money anyway, not the new frictionless, contactless money. Unfortunately, what we do with it, the stuff we buy, is not easily returned to the earth. And so much of what is done to make more of it is against nature; forcefully, even belligerently so.
'Monopoly', Yuken Teruya’s new show at the Pippy Houldsworth gallery in London, takes on these ideas. But this is no head-banging agitprop. Rather, the Japanese artist simply lets nature sprout and blossom on cold, hard – but not inorganic – cash. Miniature forestations rise out of Monopoly boards or pop out of Euros, using its materials and casting a shadow; stacked dollar bills become sturdy tree trunks, branches reaching out for sunlight and rain; McDonald’s bags shelter paper trees, replicas of those founds in Central Park (the great man-made nature reserve that brings a sudden halt to the Fifth Avenue shopping spree); autumn leaves, cast in bronze and gold are inscribed with serial codes, dollar denominations and phrases from Monopoly cards. It’s a pretty simple device, of course – and the effect is jarring but oddly becalming and resonant.
Meanwhile, in the gallery’s ‘micro-project’ space, The Box, is Gavin Turk’s sort-of sight gag Water Biscuit. First shown in 2010, possibly with a different biscuit, the piece is essentially a half-full (half-empty?) half-pint glass of water with a biscuit jammed or perhaps floating half way up. The glass becomes a vitrine within a vitrine and the biscuit a metaphorical marker of a sunny or cloudy disposition. A limited edition print version of the piece work, Half and Half, is now available.
But this is no head-banging agit prop. Rather, the Japanese artist simply lets nature sprout and blossom on cold, hard – but not inorganic – cash. Pictured: Green Economy (Group One), 2014
Miniature forestations rise out of Monopoly boards... Pictured: Monopoly, 2015–16
... and pop out of Euros. Pictured: Money Tree 3, 2015–16
A McDonald’s bag shelters intricate paper trees, replicas of those found in Central Park. Pictured: McDonald's Bag White, 2016
Autumn leaves are cast in bronze and gold and inscribed with serial codes – as seen in Federal Reserve, 2015-16
In addition, the gallery’s ‘micro-project’ space, The Box, shows Gavin Turk’s Water Biscuit. Within the ‘half-empty/full’ glass, the suspended biscuit becomes a metaphorical marker of a sunny or cloudy disposition
INFORMATION
’Yuken Teruya: Monopoly’ and Gavin Turk’s Water Biscuit are on view until 13 February. For more information, visit Pippy Houldsworth’s website
ADDRESS
Pippy Houldsworth
6 Heddon Street
London, W1B 4BT
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Japanese designer Shinichiro Ogata's latest venture is a modern riff on the traditions of his home country
As he launches Saboe, a series of new tearooms and shops across Japan, we delve into Shinichiro Ogata's creative vision, mirrored throughout the spaces and objects, rituals and moments of his projects
-
These are Dover Street Market’s jewellery designers to watch, exhibiting at the London store all summer
In a special exhibition, Dover Street Market London is highlighting 36 emerging jewellery designers to know – shop our pick of their pieces
-
A street-like Pune clubhouse celebrates the ‘joy of shared, unhurried experiences’
A brick clubhouse in Pune by Studio VDGA reflects the fluidity and openness of the Indian way of life with a series of welcoming plazas, courtyards and lanes
-
Shop the gloriously mad inner workings of Gary Card’s brain in London’s Soho
Set designer and artist Gary Card has taken over London's Plaster Store – expect chaos and some really good accessories
-
Meet the New York-based artists destabilising the boundaries of society
A new show in London presents seven young New York-based artists who are pushing against the borders between refined aesthetics and primal materiality
-
Leila Bartell’s cloudscapes are breezily distorted, a response to an evermore digital world
‘Memory Fields’ is the London-based artist’s solo exhibition at Tristan Hoare Gallery (until 25 July 2025)
-
A bespoke 40m mixed-media dragon is the centrepiece of Glastonbury’s new chill-out area
New for 2025 is Dragon's Tail – a space to offer some calm within Glastonbury’s late-night area with artwork by Edgar Phillips at its heart
-
Emerging artist Kasia Wozniak’s traditional photography techniques make for ethereal images
Wozniak’s photographs, taken with a 19th-century Gandolfi camera, are currently on show at Incubator, London
-
Vincent Van Gogh and Anselm Kiefer are in rich and intimate dialogue at the Royal Academy of Arts
German artist Anselm Kiefer has paid tribute to Van Gogh throughout his career. When their work is viewed together, a rich relationship is revealed
-
Alice Adams, Louise Bourgeois, and Eva Hesse delve into art’s ‘uckiness’ at The Courtauld
New exhibition ‘Abstract Erotic’ (until 14 September 2025) sees artists experiment with the grotesque
-
Get lost in Megan Rooney’s abstract, emotional paintings
The artist finds worlds in yellow and blue at Thaddaeus Ropac London