🍎🐍 Art As A Consequence #11
🌐 Bitcoin halving, the Venice Biennale, and more in today's weekly briefing. Grab a snack & happy reading.
Welcome to the eleventh edition of the ART AS A CONSEQUENCE weekly briefing. The two last Sundays were skipped as I was in transit, but now I am back with a bag filled with art & crypto news. From Venice Biennale starting next week to a cheeky painting setting the artist record for John Kacere and inspiration behind Sofia Capola’s opening scene of “Lost in Translation” - was that in your radar? Big week coming with the Bitcoin Halving which means new creation of BTC will be halved from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC within 10 mins - that’s halved mining hence BTC halving. Something I am anticipating to unfold with the BTC Halving is Runes on Bitcoin.
🍎 Grab a snack a happy scrolling.
Lol (lots of love),
Dimitria
Notable news from the art world 🦋✨
🎭 🛶 🇮🇹 Venice Biennale: From April 20th to November 24th, 2024, Venice will host the 60th edition of this renowned event. Under the curation of Adriano Pedrosa, this year's Biennale delves into the theme "Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere," shining a spotlight on artists from various backgrounds and underrepresented communities. The Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement have been awarded to Italian-born, Brazilian artist Anna Maria Maiolino and Paris-based, Turkish artist Nil Yalter. ⛓️ designboom has put an amazing list on the pavilions and exciting exhibitions happening in Venice, check it here.
🔨 Christie’s and Art Money, the Australian start-up offering interest-free loans for art purchases, have collaborated to enable collectors to bid in Christie’s auctions and subsequently repay Art Money in installments. Under this "buy now, pay later" scheme, buyers can spread payments over a maximum of 10 months, particularly beneficial for purchases up to $1M. However, it's worth noting that Art Money charges a fee of up to 10% of Christie’s total invoice, inclusive of the buyer’s premium (set at 26% in this scenario). From my experience in the commercial art industry buyers have been offered to pay in instalments before based on mutual contractual agreement between galleries and buyers, where no third party was involved and additional $$$%.
📱 Loic Gouzer delivered two incredible lots on his private auction platform Fair Warning setting two artists’ records these past two weeks. The first was John Kacere’s cheeky painting Reina, from 1979 fetching $253K - the painting was also a huge inspiration for the opening scene of Sofia Coppola's, “Lost in Translation” movie from 2003, and the lot of this week was Paco Rabanne’s Armour Dress (Spring/Summer Collection of 1967) which realized $112K.
🤨 📝 Roberta Smith, a pioneering co-chief art critic for The New York Times (and former assistant to Donald Judd in the early 1970s), retired last month after more than 4,500 reviews and essays. ⛓️ Of course, you can find a great article on The New York Times about her three decades of art criticism, click on the link here.
My latest crush
🤘 Ivor Braka: The rock 'n' roll art dealer
I heard and saw Ivor Braka’s name multiple times; on dinner invitations and on a few deals before. I knew he was a prominent figure in the art world, known primarily as an art dealer and collector. But, I never realized how badass he actually is.
Braka gained attention for his early investments in artists like Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, and Frank Auerbach, often before they gained widespread recognition. By 2001, when Bacon prices began their mountainous climb - from $5M to $86.3M in seven years --Braka had been two decades in the Bacon market. He knew the pictures, the owners, the collectors and where the bones were buried. It was the same with Freud and Auerbach. His keen eye for art and willingness to go against convention led to significant success in the market, with Braka achieving multiple record prices for the works he dealt with. He operates independently, without a large staff, and serves elite collectors from his bases in London and Norfolk.
⛓️ Listen to the podcast A Life Curated with Ivor Braka link here OR you can ⛓️ read this insightful interview he gave to the Evening Standard, link here
Rise and shine moments in the crypto space 🚀
🍎 Collector Artudito spoke in an interview with nftnow about his $16.4M Alien CryptoPunk purchase (he is also the same collector who bought the $14.5M Autoglyphs Set) ⛓️ catch the interview here
Quoting the great art collector Joseph Duveen, whose words seem to be making the rounds these days: “When you pay high for the priceless, you’re getting it cheap.”
♡𓂃 I’m a big fan of this: Jack Lu, Magic Eden co-founder, did a great interview where they spoke about Surviving the Solana crash, betting big on Bitcoin Ordinals, and championing creator royalties ⛓️ listen here
Bitcoin Halving 🔪
Gather up Bitcoin Maxis, as the halving is approaching next Friday we are heading towards a glory new era. Active wallets on Ordinals were dropped Runestones by Leonidas last week. These now get access to Runes projects. See below:
The original creator of the Ordinals protocol (Casey, on X: @rodarmor) foresees that BTC will offer all the features that other chains offer, in the near future. Mind the language at the end of his tweet…
🛍️ Technology and Fashion
👾 Inside The Gang's Roblox Revolution with Fashion Icons
In recent years, Roblox has emerged as a hotspot for fashion brands targeting Gen Z and Gen Alpha, with over 70M daily active users. Leading the charge is The Gang, a Stockholm-based gaming studio founded in 2019 by Marcus Holmström and Gustav Linde. Despite initial setbacks, The Gang quickly adapted, achieving profitability within its first year and witnessing +60% revenue increase from 2022 to 2023.
The studio's success is underscored by its flagship game, Strongman Simulator, boasting 1.2 billion visits and consistently ranking among Roblox's top titles. Collaborations with brands like Vans and Gucci have resulted in immersive virtual worlds, such as Vans World, which has attracted over 100M visitors. These partnerships highlight a growing trend of brands leveraging gaming platforms for interactive brand experiences.
⛓️ Catch the full interview here
That’s all frens! 👋 toodeloo
See you next Sunday - if there is a next Sunday 🤣
Visit artasaconsequence.net to discover more about my work in the art industry. You can contact me over email or find me on social media: Instagram | X | LinkedIn
