Let’s kick off with another genius play from the one and only Xcopy!! most thought and were expecting some kind of burn mechanism or reveal on his 2022 piece Max Pain. Now after following this artist closely since 2020 that’s not how he plays it, he is always one step ahead of the game both in his art creation and the mechanics of his supply and marketing. so this week he gifted a 1/1 to one lucky holder the piece titled LA WHENEVER.
Now this in my opinion won’t be the last we see of Xcopy using Max Pain in the future, I hodl 5 and certainly would not be selling any!!
Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated again saw some fantastic pieces by digital artists realise fantastic prices including
Pindar Van Arman - Otto primeGANg - 30,480 EUR
Omentejovem - Happiness Cycle - 27,940
ALIENQUEEN - Miami Horror - 17,780
Guido Di Salle - Hawaiian Kiss - 24,130
Eric Lefaure - 060 - 12,700
The role of established auction houses
I am all for a decentralised structure to digital art, but I am also a believer that auction houses such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s play a role in solidifying the digital art movement and on boarding traditional collectors into the space. Arguably Beeples $69 million sale in Christie’s kicked off the 2021 bull run.
Art auctions play several important roles in the art world. Here are a few of the key roles that art auctions can play:
Setting Prices: Art auctions can help establish the value of an artwork by providing a public platform for buyers to bid on the piece. This can help establish a fair market value for the artwork and provide a benchmark for future sales.
Creating Buzz: Art auctions can generate excitement and media attention, which can help bring attention to artists and their work. This can be particularly beneficial for emerging artists who may not have as much exposure in the art world.
Establishing Provenance: Art auctions can help establish the provenance, or ownership history, of an artwork. This can be important for collectors who want to ensure that they are purchasing a genuine piece.
Supporting Charitable Causes: Some art auctions are held to raise funds for charitable causes. By donating artworks to these auctions, artists and collectors can support causes they care about while also raising awareness of their work.
Providing Access: Art auctions can provide collectors with access to rare or unique artworks that may not be available through other channels. Auctions can also be a good way for collectors to discover new artists or acquire works that are outside of their usual collecting focus.
Overall, as much as we love the decentralised nature of digital art, it needs to co-exist in the traditional art market for it to truly grow to where it deserves to be.
Artist interview CMPLX
Who are you and what do you do?
My name is cmplx, I’m a full time illustrator specialize in lighting, color and set design.
Why art?
I’m not good at expressing my self so creating imageries is how I communicate and find comfort.
Who are your biggest artistic influences?
I have taken a bit of all the artist I like throughout my career. Some examples are -
anime and manga.
Lang Shining (Guiseppe Castiglione) for his simple and crisp line work morandi and dieberkorn for composition and organization
Andy Warhol and liechtenstein for boldness and clarity.
Realism and impressionism for subject matter.
How do you work?
A big part of my process is idea and reference image gathering, either
from pictures I take or from the Internet. Some ideas spark right away and I can Visualize it immediately, others take time to form and can be
Months before I start working on it. I do a mix of traditional/digital sketching And complete all the final work in photoshop.
What memorable responses have you had to your work?
When I was a kid, my classmates made fun of my bad drawing.
It made me want to get better haha. I’m gonna re-create a version of that drawing soon~
What has been a seminal experience?
I was constantly moving around to different cities and countries throughout my life. It definitely had An impact on me trying to fit in constantly.
What is your dream project?
I actually checked off a dream project in my illustration career, making art for a movie that went on to win the oscars!
As for web3, I would love to do an art show projecting my work
on a larger scale. Something else I really want is a hard cover art book.
Name three artists you’d like to be compared to.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Be your self, it’s ok to say you don’t know.
What’s the best piece of advice you would give an up coming artist?
For web3 I would say - Don’t worry too much about sales right away, Share your art, share others art, connect and build relationships slowly, especially people that resonate with your work without $ incentives.
What jobs have you done other than being an artist?
Refurnishing mid century furnitures.
How has your practice change over time
I’m pretty consistent with the subject matter of my work,
And have explore them with traditional medium and now
Digitally for web3. Creating digitally also allow me to add
new atheistic that would be too technical and time consuming
With traditional medium as well, so it’s really refreshing and exciting.
What’s your favourite art work?
Too hard to pick.
Some of my favorite in Web3 are
Joe pease - Algorithm #2
Grant Yun - Last supper
Jake Fried - Ball
Socmplxd - broken egg and freshman year.
What themes do you pursue?
Simple/cmplx every day life experiences.
What art do you most identify with?
Art about everyday life~
Artist review King Xerox
For this weeks in depth art review let’s take a look at a glitch artist that takes detail to the next level King Xerox.
Most glitch art is relatively simple with the effect coming from the high speed glitch of the image, King Xerox turns this on its head and uses extremely complicated imagery and story telling through that image.
“WE ARE HERE TO STAY” is a take on the rising of the flag by USA Marines over Iwo Jima, but in this depiction we have white robed anon ghouls rising a flag bearing the ETH symbol victorious over the skulls of the doubting bodies at their feet!
The quality of this piece is phenomenal with glitching pink fire and sky the main movement elements on what is a highly detailed execution, this piece is owned by none other than CozomoMedici
“DEGENZ” is a great contemporary piece so relevant to crypto gambling! A computer monitor is central to the image with Xerox trade mark robed ghouls emerging from it.
Behind the monitor dollar bills pour out signifying our losses. In the background the anon figure his eyes burning with anger looks on.
Yet again another perfectly executed glitch art highly detailed with the use of colour and movement bringing out the tension in the piece.
“A warm welcome for the King” is a piece on Tez, it flows in so many different ways from the centralised split in half teeth bearing head that’s pouring out the skeleton king consumed in fire, to the darkened sides with protruding arms holding spears.
The pieces comes together in a majestic display of colour, movement and detail that’s rarely seen on glitch art.
King Xerox depth of work is outstanding, his ability to tell a story with complex glitching is like few others in this space, he masters detail and colour balance to perfection in a very unique style.
Upcoming mints to look out for…
VoidSpor TheGM’er is currently on Foundation
Gawswolf Everything’s fine is currently on Foundation
DDO__ has an amazing collab coming Monday the 3rd of April
Marta Malinko has a drop coming on Foundation on Monday the 3rd of April
Tristan Le Blevennec currently live on Foundation
Nathan A. Bauman The Booth is currently on Foundation
Closing thought..
It’s tough out there for artists at present with sale generally very slow. Don’t give up hope, continue to do what you love and use this time to forge a path for yourself that will be your legacy in the future.