Crypto Art on Gender Transition Brings $ 2.16 Million at Christie’s

[ad_1]

Excerpt from the video “Year 4, Age 17? His Name Is Victor”, by artist FEWOCiOUS, which is to be sold as NFT at Christie’s auction house, is shown in this handout obtained on June 14, 2021. With courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd 2021 / Document via REUTERS

LONDON / NEW YORK, June 30 (Reuters) – A Christie’s auction of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and physical artwork by 18-year-old transgender artist FEWOCiOUS has grossed $ 2.16 million, a Christie’s announced on Wednesday, the latest sign of art collectors’ appetite for blockchain-based assets.

An NFT is a form of crypto asset that uses the blockchain to record the ownership status of digital objects, such as images, videos, and text. While anyone can view the object, only the purchaser of an NFT has official status to own it.

In an online auction titled “Hello, I’m Victor (FEWOCiOUS) and This Is My Life”, Christie’s sold five lots of FEWOCiOUS, real name Victor Langlois.

The five lots, which have drawn more than 20 bidders, represent a year in the life of Seattle-based Langlois as he discovered his gender identity and transitioned from female to male between the ages of 14 and 18.

Langlois is the youngest artist to have sold at Christie’s.

Each bundle consists of a video work that exists only in digital form, sold as an NFT, a set of doodles, drawings and diary entries of the corresponding year in physical and NFT form, as well as ‘a purely physical painting.

“I feel like a lot of times trans voices aren’t heard or are not as respected, so having my platform to say ‘hey, look, this is my life and watch what we’re doing’ , that means world, ”Langlois said in an interview.

The sale was the latest in a series of moves by traditional auction houses to embrace NFTs, which gained popularity in early 2021.

“I think NFTs are the future,” said Langlois, who also owns cryptocurrencies.

“If you publish your art and share it with the world digitally, I think giving collectors a way to own it as a digital asset is just the next step,” he added.

Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, editing by Rosalba O’Brien

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[ad_2]