Meme Money 002: Goochi Sponge

'Meme Money 002: Goochi Sponge,' by XVALA, Mixed Media Painting

In this mixed media 24"x24" painting, 'Meme Money 002: Goochi Sponge,' by XVALA, the artist colorfully plays with the 'Gucci' brand in tandem with the childhood cartoon series, SpongeBob. Spongebob, a 'Goochi Sponge' takes center stage with red dollar sign glasses in a palette of green, red, and gold on a lime green background.

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.