Cryptogreyman

In this project I examine the value of the physical painting versus the digital NFT.  An image which looks like one of those many pixelated images we see in the NFT space (such as the famous Cryptopunks which fetch millions at auctions at Sotheby's), but is handpainted. A physical painting made specifically in order to create the digital NFT.

More explanation in this video

The digital NFT is available on Rarible and the physical painting at BVA Auctions

In the nineties I created Greyman - a fictional character which reflected our 9-to-5 society in which people seemed to follow rules, rather than following their Heart. In one of my paintings I depicted him as a kind of modern-day Superman (the Incredible Greyman) protecting the world against “Fun, Initiative, Humor, Creativity, and other plagues of modern Society”

He became the protagonist of the imaginary world I created as an artist. An imaginary world, which acted as a tweaked Black Mirror of our society.

After a while I abandoned the Greyman in order to prevent myself from being stuck in a self-created cage, while following my own self-imposed rules, and thus turning into an undercover Greyman myself. Greyman faded out of existence (with a few notable cameo appearances, such as in 2002 at Burning Man, when he and 120 fellow Greymen surrounded an altar in the desert, where each of them could be burned in a personal ritual of freeing people from their inner Greyman). Time for me to move on, following my heart to explore new territories.

Unfortunately, in the parallel world of our real life society Greyman had not disappeared. Instead, it seems that he gathered more and more power each year, becoming increasingly more efficient in his use of algorithms to prevent those with deviant behaviour to stray from the beaten path.

Hence it is the right time for Greyman to return! Time for a new cameo appearance. Since Greyman was originally created when internet had just started and nobody could imagine that pretty soon social media would have such a big impact, it seems pretty natural that Greyman has adapted himself to this digital age by appearing in pixelated form.

But even though he may look like many other pixelated images which pop up on your screen, this pixelated Greyman is actually handmade with brush and paint. I poured some of my heart and soul in each pixel I painted.

So, move over Cryptopunks and other pixelated Avatars, PFPs, and Collectibles! Here’s the OG! Even though some of you may think OG stands for Original Gangster, in fact it stands for Original Greyman…..