STart Crypto is the premier market for truly rare digital artworks — digital art where its authenticity and rarity is guaranteed by blockchain technology.
Welcome to the December 2020 edition of the STart Crypto Newsletter, where we fill you in on all the exciting happenings at STart Crypto including notable artwork drops, artist and collector updates and upcoming events.
Two Million Dollars in Artwork Sales!
Another month, another milestone! We are excited to share that last month we surpassed two million dollars in artwork sales, only two months after reaching our million dollar mark.
This would not be possible without the creativity and hard work of our amazing community of artists and unwavering support of collectors new and old. Thank you all for helping us continue to pursue our mission of pushing the rare digital art movement forward!
Drops 🔥
Each week we feature original, never-before-seen artworks by popular digital artists on STart Crypto. These Drops serve as a great way for collectors to discover new artists each week, as well as an opportunity for artists to gain exposure across our community and, of course, sell their artworks.
Here are a few notable drops from last month. You can check out all of our artwork drops of past, present and future here and learn more details about each in the Drops section of our blog.
Happy Nightmares — Alex Pardee
This month we welcomed iconic illustrator Alex Pardee to the world of Crypto Art! Alex Pardee is a Los Angeles based freelance illustrator, apparel/toy designer, comics creator and overall transmedia pioneer known around the world for his pop surrealist “happy nightmare” creations (dubbed “Brightmares”). His signature Brightmare creations are full of color, vibrantly blending the cute with the horrific. Learn more and hear Pardee’s interview here.
To commemorate his rare digital art debut, Pardee released four artworks:
- COW MAN (1/1) which sold to collector Mamentum for 7.77 ETH (~$3,418)
- CARRY ON, CARRION (1/1) which also sold to Mamentum for 3.5 ETH (~$1,539)
- It’s A Meat-a-phor (10/10) and BUBBLE GUM MANIAC (10/10) which together amassed a total of ~$5,549.
Fantasy & Seclusion — Frenetik Void
Frenetik Void, aka Franco Verrascina, is an Argentinian digital artist based in Buenos Aires who is celebrated across physical and virtual communities alike for the alternate realities he creates through his mesmerizing artworks.
Frenetik Void’s impassioned drop series reflected the emotional complexities of existing in today’s evolving new world told through Void’s unfiltered artistic perspective. It consisted of:
- The Trophy (1/1) which sold for ~$4,502 to collector Dylan Taylor
- Blind Grief (1/1) which sold for 8ETH ($4,211) to Mamentum
- The Spectacle (10/10) which amassed ~$7,172 in gross sales, and
Fish & Katana (100/100) which totaled ~$4139 in sales.
Fruit Girls — Katy Arrington
Katy Arrington is a digital illustrator based in Jakarta, Indonesia whose signature girl power babes have become iconic within the crypto art community. Last month she released a yummy new series, Fruit Girls, which pays homage to the magic and sensuality that every woman possesses. The series consisted of three artworks — Kiwi (1/1) which sold to Maxstealth for 13ETH (~$5,776), Banana (10/10) which amassed ~$3,750 in sales and Grape (10/10) which totaled out to ~$3,724 in sales.
Cody Seekins
Cody Seekins is a nomadic traditional fine artist turned digital creator whose artworks, both digital and physical, have been recognized by institutions and art lovers worldwide. He is known for his cerebral, representational artwork style. Last month, Seekins released his new series Jataka Tales of a Budgie-Sattva, which consisted of two artworks Phra Nang Farang (1/1) and Budgie-Sattva (1/1) which sold to an anonymous buyer for 7ETH each (~$3,254)
Artist Spotlight: Jon Burgerman
Jon Burgerman is a multidisciplinary artist born in the UK and now based in New York City. His artwork has been showcased in exhibitions, events, performances and screenings all over the world. Most recently, he’s added renowned crypto artist to his list of accolades.
Burgerman’s artworks are held in the collections of several institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Last year, he held his first museum show in Asia, a massive exhibition entitled Fun Factory, which was an immersive, interactive exhibition hosted at the M Contemporary Museum in Seoul, South Korea.
A self proclaimed “doodler”, Burgerman is known for his whimsical doodle style which has become instantly recognizable to art lovers around the world. His doodles have blessed canvases, clothing, and massive walls and structures. His artwork seamlessly navigates the fine line between fine art, street art and pop art.
Bear Bricks & The Fragility of an Idea
Last month, Burgerman presented new artworks which used a combination of digital and analogue tools to investigate unspoken principles of the human experience. These works explored contemporary culture through a mesmerizing rendering of independent elements coming together and falling apart.
In Bear Bricks (1/1), Burgerman explores the idea of collectability through his own digital interpretation of the highly collectible Japanese toys Be@rbrick. Unlike the toys, Burgerman’s Bear Bricks are centered around movement and repetition giving way to a hypnotic Rorschach pattern. This artwork sold for $786 to collector Estenza.
With the series, The Fragility of an Idea, Burgerman presents a kaleidoscopic animated rendering of his signature doodles that seeks to articulate the transitory qualities of a fleeting idea, in doing so effectively highlighting how precious our thoughts really are. The 1/1 showcase artwork from this series sold for 2.75 ETH (~$1,274) to rvdg and a few editions are still available for purchase.
Collector Spotlight
This month we’d like to spotlight and officially welcome some of our newest and most active collectors:
Dylan Taylor quickly filled his collection with works from renowned artists in the crypto art space. While varying greatly in style and medium, Taylor’s love for surrealism, colorful illustrations and dramatic portraitures shines through his current collection. Taylor was kind enough to share his thoughts on his experience with collecting crypto art:
I discovered crypto art by way of my interest in blockchain technologies and NFTs. To me, the pristine nature of the blockchain, its permanence and its immutability lend itself very well to art ownership.Not only as it relates to provenance, but also the ease of transactions and verification. It also allows the collector to build a much more meaningful direct relationship with the artist. In addition, I think that the types of artists that are attracted to the crypto space are, in many ways, the types of artists I enjoy collecting. STart Crypto never ceases to amaze me with its range of talent and genius on the platform. I see crypto art and NFTs as the next big thing in collecting and anticipate it will be the preferred way to collect art 10 years from now, if not sooner.
CaliforniaBeach’s collection is unique and versatile. It is filled with a number of representational artworks rich in symbolism and extremely immersive and contains a number of stunning 3D motion art, gif art and vivid illustrations.
DIGITAL AGES by CaliforniaBeach, and Solidarity by Pxlpet.
C34’s collection is undoubtedly other-worldly. It contains a mix of sci-fi surrealism, futuristic expressionism, story-filled motion art and bold collage art.
Invader by Chris Campbell and Desert by Francisco Villa
Featured Artists
Helena Sarin, francescomai , Marcello Castellani, mikiad.visuals, Artur Gadzhiev, Anthony Jordan Gonzalez, A. L. Crego, ArtbyMLO — Martin Lukas Ostachowski, Reisinger Andres, Kristy Glas, Ladislas Chachignot, Ruye, Noah Kocher, RenderedFlesh, Blair Shedd @ oneGemini Studios, Richard Lord, Rutger van der Tas, ManWithNoName, Grant Wallich, ShallowLagoon, Hashmukh Kerai and Klarens Malluta.
Features
New Discovery Feeds!
We are excited to announce our new and improved discovery feed! We’ve made a number of improvements to make browsing and discovering new artists and collections easier. Learn all about our new Discovery Feed feature here.
Upcoming Events
Women of CryptoArt Preview Show — December 7th, 5PM PST
Head over to our Cryptovoxels gallery to see the works, new and old, of 20+ amazing women STart Crypto creators. This exhibition acts as precursor of a larger show we will be hosting next year showcasing the amazing women creators in the crypto art space. Opening night has passed but the artworks are still up for your viewing pleasure!
Roots Winners/Winners Showcase — December 18th, 5PM PST
For our Roots Exhibition, we asked the community to vote on three favorite creations. Congratulations to Kristy Glas (Belonging), A. L. Crego (Rhizome), and Jody Vaughn Lawrence (Thonnath-nu-Fuin) for receiving the most votes. To commemorate these fantastic artists and their works we are hosting a showcase exhibition for them.
Join us on December 18th in Cryptovoxels to see new creations by these three brilliant creators.
White Elephant NFT Exchange
Mark your calendars for some festive fun! We are hosting our first ever “White Elephant” holiday NFT gift exchange on Discord. Keep your eyes peeled for our announcement on Twitter/Discord with all the details.
Get in Touch
If you’re a digital creator, you can learn more about STart Crypto here.
Ready to start your rare digital art collection? Join here.
Follow us on Discord, Twitter, Medium, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.
