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1/ Beeple is the everyman artist walking the master’s path.  

Our “Collecting the Artist” series continues with Beeple, who is perhaps the most well-known digital artist of our time.

1/ Beeple is the everyman artist walking the master’s path.  

Our “Collecting the Artist” series continues with Beeple, who is perhaps the most well-known digital artist of our time.

https://www.curated.xyz/editorial/collecting-beeple

Cofounder @curated | Builder and Fine JPEG Collector | Mint a meme by casting frameme.xyz

2/ In this editorial, we dive into one of the most influential artists of our time. We explore his path to becoming Beeple, highlight what we appreciate about the artist and his art, and detail how we've collected his works at Curated.

3/ Mike Winklemann, aka Beeple, is an American digital artist. He is best known for “Everydays”, his practice of creating and publishing art every single day without exception.

4/ Some consider him to be the Warhol of our time: an art world outsider turned pop culture commentator.

Beeple uses his art to point out the absurdity of politics, celebrities, big tech monopolies, crypto, and the very art world that struggles at times to accept his art.

5/ By the time the NFT digital art boom started in 2020, Beeple was already a well-known figure in digital art.

“Everydays” had garnered him over 2M followers on Instagram, and he was doing work for Louis Vuitton, Nike , Apple , and the SuperBowl.

6/ In late 2020, Beeple released his first NFT collection called “The First Drop” on Nifty Gateway,  including two 1/1s and “Politics Is Bullshit”, an edition of 100 priced at $1 each. The collection sold out instantly, with his two 1/1s achieving $66k each.

7/ In March 2021, Christie’s auction house brought “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” to auction in the First Open show. The piece ultimately achieved a $69m hammer price, making Beeple the third most expensive living artist in the world.

8/ In our collecting of Beeple's artwork, we've grown a deep appreciation for the artist, his artistic practice, and what makes his work stand out. 

He resonates with his audience not only because of his relatable art, but because he puts in the work day in and day out.

9/ Nothing takes him away from his art, which has been ongoing for 6,000+ consecutive days and counting. His consistency marks him as an enduring figure within digital art.

All of that stands in sharp relief against the short-term and often hype-driven nature of crypto.

10/ Beeple is an artist of the social media era, growing his audience primarily through platforms such as Instagram and Twitter.

Real-time feedback from his followers has uniquely influenced his art, which contributed to his evolution from abstract works to pop culture themes.

11/ One unique phenomenon of his social media presence is that if Beeple releases art related to a specific cryptocurrency, it can lead to significant price movement. This represents a reversal of the traditional dynamic of money influencing art.

12/ Our bar for curation of his work is to aim for works that will stand the test of time, which are as relevant today as we expect them to be in the coming decades.

Our collection includes a mix of iconic editions and unique 1/1s.

12/ Our bar for curation of his work is to aim for works that will stand the test of time, which are as relevant today as we expect them to be in the coming decades.

Our collection includes a mix of iconic editions and unique 1/1s.

https://explore.curated.xyz/gallery/beeple

13/ Even as one of the most successful artists alive, he’s still innovating and investing in the future. He’s experimenting with AI art, developing Beeple Studios as a world class center for art, and is still honing his skills one “Everyday” at a time.

13/ Even as one of the most successful artists alive, he’s still innovating and investing in the future. He’s experimenting with AI art, developing Beeple Studios as a world class center for art, and is still honing his skills one “Everyday” at a time. 

https://www.curated.xyz/editorial/collecting-beeple

14/ Thanks to @emodi, @cozomomedici, Ryan Zurrer, Pablo Rodriguez-Fraile, Scott Winklemann, and Beeple for reading drafts and shaping our thinking on this piece.