Jack Daws is a Seattle-based American artist. Working with assisted readymades, mixed media sculpture, and photography, his work addresses a range of socio-political and cultural issues.
Much of Daws's work reflects his interest in socio-political issues, particularly those of racial and cultural identity. Some of his most controversial works play on stereotypes of African American, Native American, and Mexican American culture. Seattle Post-Intelligencerart critic, Regina Hackett writes: "In Seattle, no white artist has pushed the edge of racial outrage as clearly as Jack Daws, who is hardwired to goover the line... He's not expressing hatred or taking a fast ride on any one hot button. All hot buttons are dear to him." Other works have addressed the September 11 attacks, the Florida election recount in the 2000 U.S. presidential race, police brutality, the war on drugs, and Israel–United States relations. To date however, the work Daws is perhaps best known for is his piece entitled Counterfeit Penny, 2006.
''Counterfeit Penny'', 2006
In 2006, Daws hired metalsmiths to make a mold of a 1970 U.S. penny and cast it in 18-karat gold. He then hired another metalsmith to copper plate it. Wanting to see how it would age, he carried the sculpture in his pocket for six months, during which time it developed a brown patina just like an ordinary penny. On March 28, 2007, Daws intentionally put the 'penny' in circulation at Los Angeles International Airport. It was discovered in Brooklyn two and a half years later by Jessica Reed, a graphic designer and coin collector. Reed noticed it while paying for groceries at a Greenpoint C-Town. It seems that either the copper plating had begun to wear off, revealing the gold underneath, or it had oxidized in such a way as to give it a golden tint. Either way, it caught Reed's eye and she held on to it. Reed carried the 'coin' in a change purse for months before doing a quick Internet search for "gold penny 1970." Within minutes she was directed to the website of Daws's Seattle art dealer, the Greg Kucera Gallery. There she read a copy of a 2007 press release that described the sculpture as being a little smaller than a real penny, and almost twice as heavy. Reed measured it and weighed it. In disbelief, she contacted the Kucera Gallery, and was put in touch with Daws. After a brief telephone conversation Daws confirmed that she had discovered the Counterfeit Penny sculpture. Jennifer 8. Lee of the New York Times wrote: "Most counterfeiting takes something that is nearly worthless and turns it into something perceived to have value. Mr. Daws did just the opposite. He took value - approximately $100 worth of gold - and turned it into something perceived as nearly worthless, one cent."
Awards/collections
Daws received the Betty Bowen Award from the Seattle Art Museum in 2015, an Artist Trust/Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship in 2008, and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2006. He was a finalist for a 2013 Neddy at Cornish Award and received a 2013 Special Recognition Betty Bowen Award from the Seattle Art Museum. His work is in the permanent collections of the Seattle Art Museum, the University of Washington's Henry Art Gallery, Tacoma Art Museum, and Western Bridge. His work was also included in the 2013 book Wild Art, published by Phaidon Press.
