Maura Brewer, a Los Angeles-based artist and academic, creates video works that expose the role of art in money laundering. Her 2021 piece *Private Client Services* demonstrates the laundering process, while *Offshore* (2024) serves as a satirical guide for artists navigating global finance, featuring locations like the Cayman Islands and Geneva Freeport. Her ongoing project *Leverage* examines art-backed loans through the case of collector Daniel Sundheim. Brewer also works as a private investigator and recently lost her home in the Eaton Fire.
This article matters because it reframes art as a financial instrument rather than purely an aesthetic or cultural object, connecting high-end art market practices to systemic inequality. Brewer’s work critiques the dematerialization of art and money, highlighting how these constructs affect working-class artists. Her personal experience of loss underscores the tension between abstract financial systems and material reality, making her critique both timely and urgent.