---

When artist Andre Woolery began imagining his latest series, Black Stacks, he wasn’t just thinking about canvas and color. He was thinking about legacy. Inspired by the aesthetics of currency and the stories of enslaved Americans, Woolery’s life-sized, hand-painted dollar bills are both visually striking and emotionally powerful. Each one reframes history—not with bitterness, but with beauty, truth, and intention.

Woolery, who is Jamaican-born and LA-based, has built a career on using bold, layered visuals to center Blackness with care and reverence. With Black Stacks, he’s not only highlighting stories that are often excluded from the American narrative—he’s creating tangible value from them. And that value is literal: a portion of each piece’s proceeds is funneled into a reparations fund.

Photo Credit: Andre Woolery

“When you buy a Black Stack, you’re not just buying art. You’re buying into an ecosystem that’s meant to pour back into Black communities.”

Each bill in the series features the portrait of a different enslaved figure, honoring real individuals whose labor helped build the country’s wealth. These aren’t generic or abstract interpretations—they’re carefully researched likenesses painted with a regal, almost presidential energy.

The scale is deliberate. Woolery’s bills are life-sized, forcing viewers to reckon with the idea of currency as not just economics, but memory. “If American money can tell a story, why shouldn’t it tell ours?” he says.

There’s a stunning precision to each piece: engraved linework, ornate flourishes, and custom serial numbers that nod to cultural moments. The artistry is impressive—but it’s the concept that lingers. Black Stacks invites us to see Black stories not just as worthy of remembrance, but worthy of investment.

While Black Stacks is the focal point of this chapter in Woolery’s journey, it sits within a broader body of work that blends fine art, social commentary, and economic imagination.

Through Black Stacks, he’s created a powerful offering: artwork that doesn’t just hang on a wall, but circulates meaningfully through time, memory, and community.

Many of the pieces are now available as fine art prints, a more accessible entry point for collectors who want to support Woolery’s vision. For Woolery, offering these prints isn’t just a sales strategy—it’s about democratizing access to meaningful art.

“There’s power in having our stories on your walls,” he says. “In seeing them every day, and remembering what we’ve come from—and where we’re going.”

Shop the Collection: Explore Black Stacks by Andre Woolery