2 days ago, an original SuperRare piece by the Artist Xcopy sold for a hefty amount of Ethereum on a blockchain transaction. This artist makes some cool flashing imagery, and has done quite a large sum of sales on the blockchain, including being collected by cool celebrities like Snoop Dogg.
The amazing thing about this acquisition, is that even after all the rug pulls, scams, celebrity do-overs, curly hair guy steal all your money and buy apartments in the Bahamas with mom and dad, 10k NFT projects rug pulled everything, we return to the initial philosophy and concepts by the original #cryptoart crew of authentic digital art by an authentic artist. These are the true gems and diamonds of a world-wide art movement. A 1 of 1 digital artwork, holds providence and stores record, and you can see that this artwork has stored much providence over the years.
This artwork was minted on-chain on June 25th, 2019, at a time when the ecosystem of art and tech on-chain were just emerging, and Xcopy was a pioneer on chain, and proof in the pudding as I wrote about the capabilities of this technology on my blog back in 2019:
"A digital digital art movement is underway that aims to bring art and collectables to everyone, and to create more household names like Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali and Picasso. But this time, it isn’t institutions or powerful individuals who are controlling the scene. This time, it’s in the blockchain, and all the transactions are open and available to the public. Powered by the Ethereum Ledger, these transactions between Artists and Collectors are powerful indicators of truthful purchases, trades and sells that opens up a brand new economy of Art. Art that can be put into everyone’s pocket." - BIG COMIC ART 2018-2019 https://bigcomicart.tumblr.com/post/188978102097/why-deal-with-an-art-dealer-when-you-dont-have
From this in mind of a broader community, in which multiple people from all walks of life came together in 2019 to create some passionate artwork, and explore the natively digital form of expression, taking risks with an unknown technology and sharing these ideas and concepts with the broader community. This work sparked a revolution and touched people across the world in a rapidly short amount of time.
(We really did create a modern Renaissance!)
And the statistics don't lie:
With a multitude of marketplaces opening, like Foundation which saw almost 1,600 unique users with almost 40 million USD traded in a single day at its peak in March, 2022.
With this data and history giving us "Proof in the Pudding," our communities have obviously been worn down as you can see in the chart, as many so called "thought leaders", marketing teams, and other marketplaces have since shuttered their doors, created thousands of digital NFTs that made promises that didn't deliver or sold out corporate America which could absorb any competition (Who thought Ebay and NFTs were a good idea?). These grifters didn't understand the value inherent of our intellectual property, or the ethos of cryptography (fun fact: cryptography helped the world defeat Hitler during WW2).
We artists have also been beaten down even further, as the "DEFI" world merged with the art communities, creating inconsistent valuations like "floor values" at opensea or "insights" at SuperRare which seem to value artists work by nothing else but an algorithm, or some hair-brained marketing schemes that were against the values of the artists creating the artwork themselves, and make artwork unattainable by many (which is precisely the opposite of what we wanted to create on the ethos of art on the blockchain originally). All of these are of course use cases for the developers themselves to cash out and run with the money. Lets take it back to the basics of art, it's meanings alongside a simple technology of a recorded ledger: 1 of 1 artworks are unique in themselves, and contain valuable information and data harnessed on-chain.
Lets jump back to 2019: I'm an artist, and I also created Cryptoarts.org as an avenue to invite other artists about the digital art revolution, how we could explore art on chain and how this combination of tech and art could change the world. I also hosted arguably the very first physical exhibition of "Cryptoart" in the world and have been active almost daily since digital art has exploded:
Lets take a closer look at 2019 and a few of the artworks and artists that were minting alongside Xcopy and the ones still actively producing art. These works should arguably be some also very highly sought after works of art in the digital blockchain space, because of the time period, the continuation timeline of these artists work and the cooperation of the artists, SuperRare, Known Origin (now defunct), other marketplaces, and Blockchain capabilities of the time:
(This is by no means a complete list, as there are many great works of art and artists active during this period. This is just a slice)
Crypto Risky Business by Joe Chiappetta
Minted Nov 7, 2018
One of the original comic artists on chain known also as Joey Chips. Joe continues to produce satirical pieces of art making fun of the digital art space. On his website he mentions that he has spent the last year creating artwork on the Zeroone platform.
The scream by HANS
Minted March 30th, 2019
Hans is an artist from Berlin living in Tbilisi, the capital of the country of Georgia. Studied Art education in Dresden and painting at the Gerrit-Rietveld-Academie in Amsterdam. Paints, makes Cryptoart and publishes his artworks as NFTs. Hans writes poems and runs the Tour agency “Kaukasus-Reisen” operating journeys in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Hans has been very active in the digital art world, not only creating but collecting. It's support from these creative pioneers that continue to be on the cutting edge. He continues to make artwork about warriors and saviors today.
#77 Plus (Imaginary Diagrams) by Martin Lukas Ostachowski
Minted April 7th, 2019
https://superrare.com/artwork/eth/0x41a322b28d0ff354040e2cbc676f0320d8c8850d/2766?tab=activity
Martin Lukas Ostachowski (MLO.art) is a new media artist based in Montreal, QC, Canada. He explores the blockchain through the subject of clouds in physical and digital mediums. Geometric abstraction, minimalism and the use of technology are constants in his visual narrative. In addition to traditional mediums, he works with digital and generative art such as algorithm-based visualizations. Hes also done quite an extensive work in a recorded timeline of cryptoart, dating back to the earliest frogs on the bitcoin blockchain.
The Artist Liberation Front by $Johnny Dollar$
The Artist Liberation front was actually a tool created by a group lead by Johnny Dollar. It was an open source tool that allowed artists to mint on the blockchain for the first time. Johnny Dollar is one of the very first artists to mint on any blockchain, dating back to the Bitcoin Pizza days.
"I sign my paintings with my real name then cover my name with masking tape and sign it Johnny Dollar. The masking tape is a form of “encryption.” The “masking tape encryption” can always be removed to reveal my real identity, and is a metaphor for the false sense of privacy that we have in this brave new digital world."
You can find Johnny's work here: https://johnnydollar.biz/
RSF-01-022 Shameless Self Promotion by Mattiac
Minted may 24th, 2019
Mattia Cuttini is an Italian artist whose interdisciplinary practice is situated at the intersection of graphic design and generative art. He lauched his first Kickstarter project in 2017 and finally approaching the crypto art scene the following year. In his artistic research he seeks to rework simple materials, signs, gestures or sounds through analog or digital technology, often pursuing an optical or glitch aesthetic. Along with visual art, he also engaged with music and performance and using artificial intelligence. His work aims to mold the artificial into something natural and distort or transform the natural into something artificial, altering ordinary things to reach unprecedented outcomes. His art is featured at SuperRare, KnownOrigin, Async Art and Ninfa as well as at venues and events such as Palazzo della Permanente (Milan), Torino Graphic Days (Turin), Dreamverse (New York), Užupis Art Incubator (Vilnius) and Nft Factory (Paris). He works and lives in Udine, Italy.
"She told me that her Dad was loaded" by Rutger van der Tas
Minted july 14th, 2019
https://superrare.com/artwork/eth/0x41a322b28d0ff354040e2cbc676f0320d8c8850d/3849
Rutger van der Tas is a Dutch artist who operates at the intersection of traditional and digital art. His work is characterized by a critical view of modern society, with a particular focus on the influence of technology and social media. He combines classical techniques such as painting and drawing with innovative digital tools, including artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital processes.
Since 2019, Van der Tas has been active in the world of digital art and NFTs (non-fungible tokens). He has experimented with programmable art on platforms like Async Art and contributed to innovative projects where artworks consist of multiple layers, each created by different artists. His work reflects on the interaction between humans and the digital world, questioning how technology affects our lives and our perception of reality.
In addition to his digital art practices, Van der Tas remains active in the traditional art scene. His work has been exhibited in various galleries and museums, and he continues to explore the boundaries between physical and digital art forms.
painted love #3 by Roses
Minted jan 24th, 2019
Zack Yanger is part of the of the SuperRare team that helped created a booming explosion of digital art across the world. His artwork of roses, is in remembrance of his lost family member. His collaboration with a multitude of amazing artists across the world, and has helped income for thousands of artists across the world.
|>@¥!|> by Shortcut
Minted Dec 18th, 2019
Jörn Bielewski (*1969) is an artist and "digital native" working at the intersection of art and technology. His love for art and the urge to express himself in it was again fired when he started blogging about his art on the blockchain-based internet platform „Steemit“ in 2016.
Very soon he realized the potential of blockchain technology, which for him meant a revolution similar to the invention of the Internet.
To this day, he is artistically engaged with the new possibilities of this technology, which will fundamentally change the distribution channels and accessibility of art.
Shortcut has been very actively collecting digital art from newcomers to the blockchain as of late.
Foundations of Matter VI by Oficinas TK
Minted Jan 2nd, 2019
https://superrare.com/artwork/eth/0x41a322b28d0ff354040e2cbc676f0320d8c8850d/1348
Oficinastk is an Artist who has been NFTing since 2018, and a founder of the TCBA. The TCBA (Thoreau Centre for the Blockchain Arts) is (arguably one of the first) virtual exhibition spaces located in Decentraland, and Cryptovoxels.
EthGirl by Trevor Jones
Minted Dec 14th, 2019
https://superrare.com/artwork/eth/0xb932a70a57673d89f4acffbe830e8ed7f75fb9e0/6093?tab=activity
Trevor Jones hosted the first exhibition of Cryptocurrency themed artwork. He has done collaborations with Ice Cube, and raised money for many good causes. He also through a huge castle party, which was one of the greatest organized events that we have seen in cryptoart. Hes been making giant paintings for a very long time, and is world renown for the "Bitcoin Angel". Lately, he's even been making an on-chain video game called the CryptoAngels!
Decentral Eyes - Vitalik Buterin - Variant 01 by Coldie 3D
Minted July 23rd, 2018
https://superrare.com/artwork/eth/0x41a322b28d0ff354040e2cbc676f0320d8c8850d/501?tab=activity This particular piece is very special in the digital contract of providence record, and showcases the artist "practicing what he preaches" as he re-collected the artwork. Made over 6 years ago, the artist originally sold it for 1.5 ETH, and re-collected it for 17.5k ETH! The artist received two more offers of 25 ETH, and 30 ETH but has yet to resell this artwork.
Coldie3D is a pioneer in digital art, world renown and collaborated with the likes of Snoop Dogg. He as well as an avid collector.
NYC NEON by Miss AL Simpson
Minted july 24th, 2019
Miss AL Simpson is an award winning OG cryptoartist with a unique style, merging a digital graffiti style similar to Basquiat, Rauschenberg and Kippenberger with 3D historical motifs and animation. Her work has been covered by the Washington Post, CNBC and the Financial Times. She has exhibited in London, New York, Paris, Tokyo and Vancouver. "In this digital avant-garde, Miss AL Simpson has become one of the chief protagonists of this new movement" -BONHAMS
BIG BROTHER by BIG COMIC ART
Minted nov 22nd, 2019
https://superrare.com/artwork/eth/0xb932a70a57673d89f4acffbe830e8ed7f75fb9e0/5503?tab=activity Another artist who recollected their artwork in belief of what is being created. The artist who goes by the pseudonym "BIG COMIC ART" mints a wide variety of styles throughout the years on chain. In series, the artist explores old artworld ideas to new blockchain technology. A traditional painter for many years, blockchain technology has definitely transformed and informed the language of the art. The artist has explored everything from memes, to film, to current events, to large scale paintings, to digital paintings on the blockchain, and how the blockchain could and will affect our lives. Exploring our human condition with humor, and revitalizing the "comic" for a new era. Some stories continue to be produced even 6 years later.
This is really only a small portion of a 2019 selection. I urge further exploration, research and deep dive into these authentic slices of art and history recorded on the blockchain.
