Welcome to the eighteenth edition of the ART AS A CONSEQUENCE weekly briefing. I am back from Venice, where I spent the last 4 days visiting the Biennale, many satellite exhibitions, and ofc the island of Murano. Additionally, has the scoop on this year’s Non Fungible Conference as attended in Lisbon. All of that and more below. So, grab a snack 🍎 and happy scrolling.
Lol (lots of love),
Dimitria
Notable news from the art world 🦋✨
🍎 Happy to be back after four wonderful and I must add very art-full days in Venice. On day one, I visited Alex Katz’s show at Fondazione Cini. Impressive to see Katz, who currently 96-years old still painting large scale paintings and with tremendously sharp thoughts (watch short video here). Followed by the Helmut Newton’s Legacy show with over 250 works, it felt like a retrospective. I was very happy to see Sam Spratt’s The Monument Game organized by 1OF1. This show received rave review and I see now why. Great ambience and concept, bravo to Lukas Amacher for the curation of the show. Ben Brown gallery showed the Lalannes with works spanning over two stories and I found myself contemplating whether I should rob the bank and get the hippo mini bar. The Venice Biennale (& Arsenale) were “so-so” in my opinion, with the exception of Sandra Gamarra Heshiki representing the Spanish pavillion. She elaborated strongly on the concept of Migrants and did a tremendous job.
My favourite was the trip to Murano to visit Glasstress a project by Adriano Berengo - what this man has achieved is incredible. The group show included works be renowned artist (including Ai Weiwei, Laure Prouvost, Rose Wylie among others) which were all created in glass at Berengo’s studio. Lastly, I visited JANUS at Berggruen’s newly acquire Palazzo Diedo. The show included a similar piece of the iconic Urs Fischer raindrops installation (600 drops to be exact)- but for this show a new one titled Omen was made out of mirrored glass. Guess who made the glasswork for Fischer? Berengo. A spectacular piece.
I must say, Berggruen’s team (-and flyer) states that the show includes a sculpture by Carsten Höller which is actually not physically in the show - “the work has not yet been completed” said his team at the ticket reception when asked where the work is.
You can read Nicolas Berggruen’s latest interview on the FT about his endeavours in Venice (opening three locations) and his reaction on being compared to the Medici family, read here.
“There are a lot of good thinkers in Europe, but not always a lot of great doers. In America, there are a lot of great doers… not so many thinkers”
— NICOLAS BERGGRUEN
🍎 In the last weekly briefing I mentioned that Christie’s website crashed ahead of the auctions season, well now we have a major development. On Thursday, 30th of May Christie’s revealed that a hack by RansomHub compromised client names and personal identity data from passports and driving licenses, but not financial records. RansomHub attempted to auction the stolen data on the dark web.
🍎 designboom publish the ultimate Art Basel 2024 guide including who will be presented at Unlimited - including Gagosian’s $4 M Christo ultra rare Wrapped VW Beetle, what’s on Parcours, and the launch of ArtMeta’s The Digital Art Mile, a boutique fair that aims to make digital art accessible, among others. It is going to be a busy Basel this year.
🚀 🌞🌛 Rise and shine moments from the crypto space
🌇 🌊 🇵🇹 NFC Summit Lisbon
Lisbon's vibrant energy set the stage for the NFC Summit, a pioneering festival that showcased the future of digital interaction.
This year's event brought unparalleled excitement with innovative features such as the R3D Carpet, a dynamic Gaming Startup Competition, MEMECON, and more - especially tons of exciting side events: Redlions Picnic, 6529 Community Meetup, Punks Under the Bridge, …
NFC 2024 catered to a diverse audience, including artists, collectors, game creators, fashion designers, entrepreneurs, investors, and visionaries at the forefront of digital culture. It seems to have become the definitive event for those looking to make a significant impact.
According to sources probably one of the best NFT Conferences worldwide. Best way to experience what went down from afar is to follow their main channel (@NFCsummit), as well as various accounts of the event:
🍎 More Yuga Labs and Nina Chanel Abney's “Super Punk World” drama - especially following the resale royalty consequences, see below:
🍎 $PEPE has surpassed the market value of all major NFT collections combined, boasting a market cap of over $6.2 B, 10% higher than the total market cap of all profile picture (PFP) NFT collections. The meme coin market is booming, nearing a $69 billion market cap, with PEPE up 111% in one month.
🍎 Cristiano Ronaldo announced the launch of his fourth NFT collection with Binance, set for May 29. This collection celebrates his career highlights, with previous collections included perks like playing football with Ronaldo (!). However, he is currently facing a lawsuit in Florida over allegations of promoting unregistered securities with Binance. Binance's founder, Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, was recently sentenced to four months for fraud-related charges.
🍎 Dolce & Gabbana is in deep trouble over overpromising and underdelivering NFTs. They faces a lawsuit over its NFT strategy, with alleged broken promises and delayed deliveries. The collector Luke Brown spent $6K on DGFamily NFTs, expecting digital rewards, physical products, and exclusive event access, but received few benefits. Brown accuses Dolce & Gabbana and NFT marketplace UNXD of fraud and breach of contract, citing delayed NFT releases and unmet promises. The lawsuit also alleges the companies abandoned the project, causing significant financial losses for investors. This adds to the brand's history of controversial practices, including previous accusations of racism.
🍒 Bonus: Let’s play Rowpepen (by marka.eth)
✅ free to play for all
✅ mint on-chain end screen & "in it for the art" modes
✅ season leaderboard
✅ tournament next
Find out more and see the 🧵 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
