15 november 2021, Wouter van den Eijkel
Dadara, BVA Kunstveilingen and KochxBos Gallery present 'The CryptoGreyman Project'
Suppose you can choose between a physical work of acrylic on linen and its NFT? What do you choose then? Dadara finds out through his CryptoGreyman Project: he recycled his iconic Greyman figure and painted a pixelated version of it, which he then also created as NFT.
Dadara, CryptoGreyman NFT via online auction KochxBos Gallery.
You can already bid on both versions, the physical and digital one. Both auctions will end on Friday, November 19 at 7:01 PM. The last, exciting hour of the auctions can be followed in KochxBos Gallery on widescreens with accompanying commentary by Dadara: “Which version is more profitable?” After the end of the auctions there is a review and Q&A session about the process 'Physical versus Digital painting'.
Last spring, when most of us had never heard of the word fungible, let alone NFTs, Christie's in New York auctioned off a non-fungible token for just over $69 million. Moreover, the work was by an artist who did not ring a bell with most: Beeple.
There turned out to be a huge market for these digital objects that can take any form from sneakers to cars and from watches and pets to art. The blockchain technology behind the NFTs makes it possible for the digital objects to be unique, which suddenly made online collecting possible. An additional advantage: you can buy these unique digital objects directly from the maker and therefore do not need a gallery or auction house. That is one of the things that made the auction at Christie's so remarkable. Since then, the NFT and the rollercoaster-like market for this has not been out of the news.
Dadara, CryptoGreyman Acrylic on linen via online auction, KochxBos Gallery.
Dadara
For many, Dadara's work (pseudonym of Daniël Rozenberg, NL 1969) is inextricably linked to the emerging house music scene of the early 1990s. Dadara drew the flyers for the high-profile Amsterdam nightclub RoXY and made a name for himself with stylized drawings of babies for the record label Outland Records.
Recurring themes in Dadara's work are technological progress and its consequences for our privacy, national borders, the banking system and our handling of money. Given all the artistic, financial and philosophical implications, CryptoGreyman's project on NFTs brings together many themes from his work.
The Exchanghibition Bank
Dadara is often ahead of the curb with the issues he raises. For example, Dadara founded his own bank, The Exchanghibition Bank, in 2010 to research the value of art and money. Dadara's alternative banking system allowed people to exchange money for notes of zero, million, and infinity, among others. Not much has changed since then: “Why do we mainly read about art in the news when a Picasso, Van Gogh or Basquiat is auctioned for tens of millions? Now the same is happening, because most know NFTs because a Beeple was sold for almost 70 million. But what does that say about the value of art?”
Besides an investigation into the value of art, The Exchanghibition Bank was also an investigation into the value of money. “Often we have forgotten that money has no absolute value, but has been invented and, as an invention, as an agreement, also has value. That is why it is interesting that - 11 years later - people realize that a different kind of agreement, such as the cryptos, can also be a means of payment.”
Dadara, Like 4 Real-project, 2013, KochxBos Gallery.
Like 4 Real
For the Like 4 Real project (2013), Dadara built, among other things, a 15-meter high golden Like on the grounds of the Burning Man festival in Nevada. Dadara immersed himself in social media, because he noticed that while it was becoming easier for artists and musicians to promote their work, it was also becoming increasingly difficult to make a living from it. Images could be copied endlessly and copyrights were barely paid. “NFTs could make a big difference in that, I hope. Also in the mindset of people, that art online does have value”.
The underlying theme, digital ownership, preoccupies Dadara. “I find that the concept of digital ownership is difficult for people to grasp. They understand that they own it when they buy a painting from me, for example. After all, they can hang it on their wall. But what does owning an online image mean? At a time when more and more people are migrating part of their lives to the digital domain, it is not an easy question to answer what is the value of the ownership of a digital work of art that you have on the wall of your virtual home in the Metaverse for your friends' Avatars to come visit. It requires a completely different mindset.”
Greyman
Dadara first drew the Greyman in the early 1990s: “My work is often a mirror of reality, but then a Black Mirror version, albeit with a rainbow edge. At the time, I portrayed the Greyman as a kind of modern-day superhero who, like The Incredible Greyman, fought against fun, colour, creativity and humour. I also erected a nine-meter statue for the Greyman where he, with briefcase in hand, held a bronze torch as the Statue of No Liberty.
At the moment there is a real “gold rush” going on. There is a lot of greed among people who think that they can earn a lot of money very quickly with this. That's why the Greyman with his briefcase and tie seemed to me to be a fitting symbol for this project that looks at the value of NFTs versus physical art."
Dadara, History Greyman voor Rijksmuseum II in 2000, KochxBos Gallery.
The CryptoGreyman Project - Two online auctions
For the CryptoGreyman project, Dadara painted a pixelated version of Greyman. Only Dadara's signature is not pixelated. He made an NFT of this painting. In collaboration with KochxBos Gallery, the painting will be auctioned online via BVA auctions and the NFT via the online platform Rarible. Both auctions will end on Friday, November 19 at 7:01 PM.
“With those two auctions, we literally pose the question which version has more value. At the same time, there is another interesting question: Is the NFT a derivative, a by-product of the painting? Or was the painting specifically made for this project in order to make the NFT?”
Dadara, Cryptogreyman handtekening, KochxBos Gallery.
“In addition, with this project I want to build a bridge between the traditional art world and the new NFT world. That is why it is also nice to literally give Greyman a new look – a digital crypto jacket, in which those hand-painted pixels also play with the physical versus the digital.”
Online auctions, information and viewing day, auction evening, review and Q&A
An auction would not be an auction without viewing days. Would you like to know more about NFTs or a detailed explanation of the project and the work by Dadara? Then come to the viewing day.
The auctions can be found here: The CryptoGreyman's NFT is being auctioned on Rarible.
The painting of the CryptoGreyman at BVA Auctions.
Information and viewing day
Wednesday 17 November between 5pm and 7pm information and viewing day at
KochxBos Gallery, Eerste Anjeliersdwarsstraat 36 in Amsterdam.
Auction end, review, Q&A
You can physically follow the outcome of the two auctions in the gallery on Friday 19 November from 6pm to 7pm. This is followed by an afterthought and a Q&A with Dadara.
The evening of 19 November can also be followed via a livestream. Tune in from 6pm via the KochxBos Youtube channel.
Click here to check in and follow the livestream on Friday.
