Glamorous 4k displays @ 60 fps are how an NFT should be presented, according to the Superchief Gallery in New York, which claims to be the first NFT gallery space in the world. The gallery tries to replicate what it would look like to show off your NFTs at home, using the latest BlackDove “digital canvases”, which are “commercial-grade displays enabling permanent crypto-art installations.”
Swoon, the first female street artist to gain recognition worldwide, released her first NFT art piece, “Genesis”, at Superchief, and it was sold for $11,500. She also received three commission requests for further NFT works. A total of 300 artists are releasing their NFTs at Superchief’s “Season 1 Starter Pack”, which will take place till May 25 at 56 East 11th Street in Manhattan.
Among the released NFTs are artworks by 1010, Ondrej Zunka, Ellen Sheidlin, Princess Nokia (NYSE:NOK), Hood by Air, Jason Ebayer, Saturno, and Lourdes Leon. “For many of these artists, this is their first NFT, their Genesis piece. So it’s important to us that they do this special piece as a publicly accessible auction. With an auction, the entire NFT art collector base will have an opportunity to bid allowing the artists to get a true evaluation for their first foray into the NFT sphere… NFT collectors are very informed on what’s going on in the market — but we are focused on making this rollout as smooth as possible and giving each artist time in the spotlight, so our focus is there right now,” said Superchief’s founder Ed Zipco.
With the NFT craze picking up pace with Christie’s $69M sale, even NYC’s highly prestigious Guggenheim Museum is looking at NFTs. A recent job posting on their website asked, “How will blockchain and cryptocurrency change how a museum defines its collection strategy?” Sotheby’s CEO, Charles Stewart, has also shown an interest in exploring the growing opportunities in the NFT space. In a recent CNBC interview, he said, “There’s a lot here that’s really exciting and, we think, has staying power.” He believes that NFTs have a very high potential to “bypass traditional gatekeepers.”
While in Russia, the second-largest art museum in the world, the State Hermitage, plans to hold an NFT art exhibition. According to the press release, the exhibition, to be held in conjunction with RDI Creative, will be a continuation of the State Hermitage’s work on new forms of art that began with the exhibitions “Innovation as an Artistic Technique” (2018) and “Artificial Intelligence and the Dialogue of Cultures” (2019). The objective of many of the projects is to research forms of engaging an audience in new cultural practices.
On the Flipside
Beeple, the digital artist behind the world’s most valuable NFT, worth $69M, believes that NFTs could be a bubble. He thinks the prices for NFTs are only skyrocketing because everyone wants them right now, but in the future, when demand dies down, so will the prices.
NFTs are also gaining negative media attention for their infamously high carbon footprint. However, Superchief gallery wants to address that and go further than just being carbon neutral. It is looking to partner with Cloverly to offset its carbon footprint by buying carbon credits that fund green initiatives. Their goal is to offset their footprint by 150% and, thus, show that NFTs’ environmental effects can be addressed and resolved.
What to look out for
There are so many different forms of art that can be minted as NFT and many of these art forms are unique to the digital domain, so it is especially great that NFTs can now help digital artists monetize them. NFTs ask the question: can everyone be an artist in the future? And now that NFTs are helping integrate AIs into the creative process, we can’t help but wonder what they will come up with next.