(New York) A gallery entirely dedicated to so-called “NFT” digital works has opened in New York, presenting itself as the first physical exhibition space in the world dedicated to this technology which is attracting more and more collectors.
Posted on March 26, 2021 at 4:33 p.m.
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The day after the opening of this New York gallery, Thursday, an exhibition dedicated to the “NFT” began in Shanghai.
Each work being, by nature, dematerialized, it is presented on a giant screen or by projection, in a space located a stone’s throw from Union Square, in lower Manhattan.
The works of five artists will be exhibited daily, with a daily rotation for 60 days for a total of 300 different creators, by May 25.
The “NFT”, a non-fungible token or “non-fungible token” in English, allows a certificate of authenticity to be associated with any virtual object, whether it is an image, photo, animation, video, song. music or a newspaper article.
This certificate is theoretically inviolable and cannot be duplicated. It is designed using so-called “blockchain” technology, which serves as the basis for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.
The popularization of “NFT” over the past six months has transformed the digital collection market to the point of attracting billions of dollars in investment.
Each work presented in the gallery will then be auctioned, explained Ed Zipco, co-founder and director of Superchief Galleries, which have been presenting digital works since 2016.
Why physically present virtual works? “The purpose of a gallery is to show what it looks like in person, under the conditions imagined by the artist,” described the gallery owner, with a large 4K resolution screen. “People who collect (these works) want to live with them. ”
About 70% of the artists who will be presented in the dedicated space are not, initially, digital creators, according to Ed Zipco, in particular sculptors, painters or photographers. “More and more artists known enough to be exhibited in museums are getting started. ”
“It’s so new that it’s still difficult for people to grasp,” admits the gallery owner. “It’s technological, so there is always a little learning and pedagogy to be done. […] But it will very quickly become quite normal. ”
Digital art has been around for several decades, but the arrival of “NFT” has reassured collectors about the risk of copying. It is possible to duplicate a digital work, but the “NFT” certificate sold with it is tamper-proof.
On March 11, a digital work by American artist Beeple, titled “Everydays: The First 5000 Days”, sold for $ 69.3 million at Christie’s.
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