_edited.png)
Who is Stanley Millz?
Stanley Millz is a contemporary mixed media artist best known for transforming U.S. dollar bills into bold, thought-provoking works of art. Working at the intersection of rebellion and fine art, Millz uses real currency not just as a medium, but as a message — confronting themes of value, authority, capitalism, and identity with every piece.
The Artist Statement
“I don’t follow a style. I follow a feeling.”
Stanley Millz creates unapologetic, one-of-a-kind artworks that challenge what we’re told has worth. His work is a protest, a punchline, and a piece of history all in one. By defacing legal tender, he exposes deeper truths — about art, ownership, and the systems we’ve come to accept.
There’s no clean line between satire and sincerity in Millz’s pieces. Some provoke. Some play. All confront.
A Short History
Born in 1990 in East London, Stanley Millz grew up in a working-class environment shaped by council estates, music piracy, and street culture. Art was never introduced as a career — it was survival, expression, and escape. Without formal training, Millz began experimenting with non-traditional surfaces and materials, eventually landing on dollar bills as the perfect contradiction: authority and rebellion printed on the same surface.
His practice developed from there, growing into a body of work that now sits between street art, pop surrealism, political commentary, and punk design.
Behind the Art: Process + Philosophy
Each Stanley Millz piece starts with a genuine U.S. dollar bill — individually prepared, layered, and transformed using a combination of digital design, pigment printing, painting, stenciling, and hand-finishing techniques. No two works are ever repeated. All are numbered, archived, and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
Millz views the defacement of currency as both an artistic and philosophical act. These bills are no longer legal tender — they’re something more valuable: a protest made permanent.
The process is deeply personal and deliberately unpredictable. In Millz’s studio, the only rule is to break them.