The Work
Rhinos Don’t
Grow on Trees
Midas Hart
Genuine US currency, 24 karat gold leaf, resin, and fiberglass
L135 × H67 × W45 in (L343 × H170 × W114 cm)
One of a kind

Artist Statement
Rhinos Don’t Grow on Trees is a work about value: how we assign it and how we pursue it.
Layered both physically and metaphorically, an endangered animal is enveloped in currency, its horns covered in gold. The work examines the tension between what is deeply sacred and what is transactional, reflecting our tendency to look at the world and see not simply life, but what we can extract from it. It becomes something to possess, trade, or consume.
The golden horn embodies this inquiry. Its preciousness honors the animal itself while reflecting the monetary and symbolic value humans have projected onto it. What makes the rhino precious in human eyes can also become a reason for its destruction.
Yet money itself remains unresolved. It can finance exploitation or preservation, destruction or repair. What appears to consume the rhino may also protect it.

Selected Exhibitions
Beverly Center
Los Angeles, California
The Lost Warhols
Los Angeles, California
Exhibition Centerpiece
Animal History Museum
Burbank, California
Exhibition Centerpiece
Curated by Chuck Wolf, The Wolf Fine Art
Malibu City Hall
Malibu, California
City of West Hollywood
West Hollywood, California
Collection History
Private Collection
Los Angeles, California
Private Collection
Los Angeles, California
Private Collection
Los Angeles, California
About
Midas Hart is a contemporary artist working primarily in conceptual installation and mixed media. The practice begins with a question: has humanity lost sight of what is valuable?
Before establishing an artistic practice, Hart worked behind the scenes in entertainment and fashion. Close contact with high-profile individuals and organizations offered a direct view into how money, status, publicity, and influence shape perceptions of worth.
An extended period of world travel, meditation, and introspection prompted a reassessment of those measures of success. How much of what we value depends on social constructs and the stories we attach to them?

Press
Midas Hart’s 11-Foot Rhino Covered in U.S. Currency and Gold Goes on View in Los Angeles
Midas Hart’s one-of-a-kind sculpture confronts the uneasy relationship between money, value and the natural world.
Read the press releaseContact
Inquiries
For private acquisitions, exhibitions, institutional placement, or press inquiries, please contact studio@midashart.com.