Last month much of the traditional art world had not heard of Mike Winkelmann. Then the digital artist sold a piece that only exists online for £50 million at a Christie’s auction. Beeple, as he is professionally known, is now the third most expensive living artist in terms of auction prices, after Jeff Koons and David Hockney.
The sale of Winkelmann’s computerised collage of 5,000 images — which include a pregnant cyborg Michael Jackson and a Buzz Lightyear with breasts — has catapulted the digital art scene into the spotlight.
It was made possible by new blockchain-based technology called “non-fungible tokens”, or NFTs, which are certificates of authenticity stored on digital ledgers to prove ownership.
The work of artists such as Winkelmann, also known as Beeple, often has a dystopian theme
NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Minting art that has no physical presence but can fetch