'Rona Bots Money Edition,' by XVALA, Mixed Media Painting

This large scale 113" x 55" mixed media painting by XVALA was created during the pandemic and features floating green robots on a silver canvas with multi-color dollar signs throughout. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on the global economy. The Rona Bots have canceled the economy, but it's not only our money that has been affected. XVALA appropriated this specific dollar symbol from Andy Warhol to remind us that the pandemic has also ripped through the fabric of pop culture in 2020.

XVALA's art illuminates the hidden fallout spawned from our high tech Internet age. His Fear Google campaign exposed the decay of privacy and No Delete used hacked nude celebrity photos to highlight loss of control over personal information. The artist has worked with trash from the homes of Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and others, as well as dirt from the graves of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. The dirt appears in the New World Order collection as part of a pyramidal, 3D printed, living ant farm, a symbol of the surveillance and conformity the digital state forces on users.

XVALA exposes a blurring between public and private information while supporting privacy, freedom of speech, and content ownership. His Meme Ranch project addresses a theft of both freedom of information and freedom of expression by governments and tech giants.

XVALA is often compared to Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, and Richard Prince. His street art offers satirical commentary on other artists, including Banksy.