NFTs have skyrocketed to serious business over the past few months. There’s a lot of talk about money and investors, but what about the artists and creators behind them? Here’s the run down on some creators riding the NFT wave and benefiting themselves and the community in the process!
Beeple
Beeple’s legendary ‘The First 5000 Days’ artwork
The most prominent NFT artists right now, Beeple sold his work Everydays – The First 5000 Days for a gigantic $69.3million, making it the most expensive NFT ever!
Christies sold the artwork in the first-ever purely digital NFT auction held by a traditional auction house. Breaking another record, the artwork sold for third-highest price ever paid for work by a living artist.
It’s impossible to talk about NFT artists without mentioning Beeple! He’s broken the boundary between traditional art and digital art and put NFTs on the mainstream map. This sale proves that while money doesn’t mean everything in the art world, it does get people’s attention.
Mick Jagger and Dave Grohl
The ‘Eazy Sleezy’ NFT features a 3D rendered man, thrashing through heads filled with more heads.
The two music giants have collaborated not just on a track, but with an NFT. ‘Eazy Sleezy’ was auction for charity in March 2021.
Proceeds from the NFT were to be split between organizations that support independent music venues. Plus a percentage of the sale price will benefit unspecified “environmental causes.”
Playboy
Playboy x Slimesunday artwork reconstructing Playboy’s notorious photography
A brand known for (amongst other things, of course) launching the careers of many photographers.
Playboy partnered with Nifty Gateway with a three pronged agenda- to mint and sell artworks from Playboy’s archive, to have artists collaborate with archival artworks to create new NFTs, and to incubate and commission emerging artists.
“We are excited that Playboy has entered the NFT space with care, creative intention and commitment to the artists and the NFT community.” Ashley Ramos, Senior Producer at Nifty Gateway.
Check out their first NFT collection in collaboration with collage artist Slimesunday.
Imogen Heap
Imogen Heap x Endless NFTs are snapshots of a ‘once-in-forever musical moment’
With cheap streaming services for consuming music, and live gigs facing an uncertain future- musicians have been struggling to get paid for their work. NFTs offer a direct route for fans to support an artist, without earnings being split with management and distribution.
It’s not just big musicians like Grimes and Kings of Leon that can make money from NFTs. Lesser-known, independent artists are doing it too.
Heap has long supported the use of digital technologies to support musicians. It was fitting, then, when she recently announced her first official NFT collection: a set of recordings from live online jam sessions, paired with visualizations.
Rather than just offsetting the environmental impact associated with NFTs, the collection was carbon negative!
RTFKT
RTFKT’s Metajacket OG – just one piece of their many insane digital garments changing the face of fashion
RTFKT is a virtual fashion brand reinventing the industry. Specialising in NFT sneakers, owners have access to their fresh clothes across compatible games and platforms.
“NFTs are all about collectibles, and so is the fashion world,”- Benoit Pagotto, Founder of RTFKT. Started by 3 friends in 2021, RTFKT has quickly found the sweet spot of technology and fashion and continues to push the boundaries of NFTs.
Recently, their Metajacket OG – a virtual jacket- sold for a whopping 52.53 ETH ($125,000)
Blake Kathryn
Etherial artworks by Blake Kathryn
Blake Kathryn creates vibrant, ethereal digital art, which is both fantastical and futuristic. An already successful artist, Kathryn has become a huge player in the NFT space.
Recently, one of Kathryn’s NFT artworks sold for $22,938.19, a far cry from the $15 art prints available on her website.
Kathryn has had NFT collaborations with high profile creators like Tovelo and Paris Hilton. But she also works with lesser known musicians to bring the animated dreamscapes to life.
Sterling Crispin
Sterling Crispin’s ‘Entropy Extropy’ pushing the boundaries of what NFTs can be
When artist Sterling Crispin’s exhibition ‘Future Tense’ was cut short due last year, he minted each piece to form an NFT ‘virtual closing reception’.
Crispin recently sold an artwork for 3.5 ETH on Foundation. The NFT is a 3D rendering of a physical piece– a rotting tree root and metallic copy of itself. The owner of the NFT receives both the digital and physical copy, and is under instructions to never separate them.
Crispin’s work explores humans’ relationship with technology, so stepping into the NFT world has been a natural progression. These artworks are pushing the possibilities of NFTs and blurring the boundaries between physical and digital art.
Ignatius Arts
Ignatius’ punchy illustration celebrating black beauty
Ignatius’ vibrant and strong illustrations showcase black beauty by representing the various hairstyles, traditional garments and natural traits of his subjects.
Digital illustrators usually have an array of outputs for their work because, unlike traditional painting, until now there has been no way to sell an actual piece of digital art. Ignatius not only has illustrations in the form of album art, logos and clothing, now collectors across the globe can purchase a minted digital artwork through Superrare.
As an emerging artist seamlessly transitioning to the NFT space, Ignatius is surely one to watch!
Antoni Todisco
Antoni Tudisco brings 3D animation and fashion together with futuristic style
3D visual artist Antoni Tudisco has had great success for years now, working with clients like MTV and Nike. Now in the NFT space, he is able to connect with collectors directly like never before! Tudisco is one of the most in-demand creators right now, with countless collabs popping up across multiple NFT markets.
This particular collaboration, exclusively on Superrare, with Yeezy designer Dingyun Zhang blends fashion and digital art in a futuristic twist on the runway show.
This collab is part of a wave of fashion x animator collabs that are paving the way for the digital future of fashion.