It’s time to say goodbye to the old fashion ways we distribute art. In our modern world, where we essentially live in the digital space, NFTs have brought forth a better way to administer art between the artist and consumer. Take a look at some of the best NFT creators who use this concept to its fullest.
Beeple
Mike Winkelmann, better known as Beeple, is by far the most popular NFT creator. The 40-year-old NFT artist isn’t only renowned in the cryptocurrency scene though. He is also the third most valuable artist alive, after David Hockney and Jeff Koons. What’s more, Winkelmann accumulated his wealth almost overnight!
His impressive NFT artwork collage called “Every Day: The First 5,000 Days” sold for a staggering price of $69,346,250. The piece is a digital mosaic showcasing thousands of images that were created every day since 2007.
Even before the rapid rise to stardom, Winkelmann was a respected graphic designer working for massive brands like Pepsi or Nike. Today, Wilkelman still continues his “Every Day” series where he posts one digital artwork a day on his Instagram or Twitter.
PAK
Pak is a very well-known NFT artist, who has dedicated more than two decades to design, coding, programming, and technology. Unlike all the other artists on this list, PAK is a digital artist that to this day remains anonymous. His name, gender, and identity remain a mystery.
While extremely popular on social media and boasting followers like Elon Musk, PAK still shares very little information. The mysterious figure (or group) started creating crypto art projects in 2020 with his first release called “Cloud Monument Dark”. His talent was immediately recognized and the piece sold for 3.5 ETH ($788 at that time).
PAK’s art has been immensely popular ever since. So much so that he even set the world NFT sale record, where in 48 hours, 28,983 collectors spent $91,806,519 to purchase 312,686 total units of mass.
Besides NFTs creation, Pak is perhaps best known for creating a tool called “Archillect”. It is an artificial intelligence that is designed to discover and share visually stimulating content. Nowadays PAK keeps pushing the limits of innovation and has even started his own NFT platform called Sotheby’s Metaverse.
Trevor Jones
The UK’s most successful NFT artist, Trevor Jones originally only worked on the canvas non-digitally. However, all of that changed in 2017 when he purchased his first Bitcoin. Ever since then, Jones became absolutely fascinated by the blockchain and borderline obsessed with it.
He gradually moved onto QR codes, augmented reality, before swiftly bursting into the NFT world. His most famous and most expensive NFT pieces are “The Bitcoin Angel” and “Genesis”, both of which are beautiful pencil drawings.
The 4,157 editions of “The Bitcoin Angel” sold only within seven minutes, earning Jones over $3.2 million. “Genesis” sold for 302.5 ETH (approximately $1.4 million). It was moreover created in collaboration with José Delbo, who is also one of the best NFT artists in our current crypto art space.
José Delbo
The 88-year-old Argentinian artist is a passionate creator who has been drawing and publishing art since the age of 16. José Delbo is a respected and well-established artist that had his hand in some of the most amazing projects. He has worked on a number of DC & Marvel comics such as Wonder Women, Batman, and Transformers.
Delbo is still very much into creating beautiful comic book characters except in the form of NFTs. These works were initially sold for just a few hundred dollars on NFT marketplaces. However, his work has since then been internationally recognized and appraised. Nowadays, José Delbo’s Wonder Woman NFTs are worth and sold for millions of dollars!
Mad Dog Jones
Mad Dog Jones is one of the most ambitious NFT creators of our age. Known for blending both music and art together to create exquisite Japan-meets-cyberpunk style art. The Canadian-born artist was once described as the most expensive living artist in Canada – a description earned after selling his very first NFT “The Replicator” for an eye-popping $4.1 million to Philips.
Although the NFT itself is quite literally a work of art, the seven-figure offer from Philips wasn’t based solely on visuals. This is because “The Replicator” has the ability coded in its smart contract to replicate and generate new NFTs.
This was a completely revolutionary idea never seen before in the NFT space. It prints a unique NFT every 28 days for 7 generations. Each subsequent generation produces one less artwork in its lifetime and thus increasing scarcity. A buyer can ultimately own up to 220 NFTs, each of which has its own value on a secondary market.
Hackatao
Hackatao is a creative duo of NFT digital artists named Nadia Squarci and Sergio Scalet. They are both considered pioneers of NFT art not only in their native country but all over the world.
Their unique names have a hidden meaning. It comes from the fusion of “hacker” symbolizing a person who overcomes imposed limitations with creativity and ingenuity, and “tao” which refers to Yin Yang.
Hackatao, therefore, focuses on environmental political issues, societies, and humanity, expressing them through their art. Through a blend of history, symbolism, and psychology, the artists have created new forms of ultra-contemporary NFT art. Some of their best work includes “Kim Jong Un-Dead and Alive” or “Imago, 2k2 a.C”, which sold for $932,285.
Not Your Contract, Not Your Collection
Unique and non-fungible tokens offer artists new ways to engage fans and gain a stake in the crypto space, as these top NFT creators have demonstrated. Digital art is still a relatively new art form, but it offers exciting new opportunities for all kinds of creators in the art world. Old school canvas paintings had their time on the creative arts grand stage for centuries, but now digital art is ready to take it over.
