When we talk about NFT artists, their fans and appreciators contribute a tremendous amount of support to build the hype. This brings us to our next point: NFTs have become a buzzword that all superfans were humming all round the year.
The effect of this craze was quite visible when Beeple sold an NFT for a stunning $69 million at Christie’s. Murat Pak, an anonymous NFT artist, made headlines when his ‘merge’ NFT brought 91.8 million in sales, breaking all records that were ever made.
There were many instances of record-smashing NFT sales, from several NFT artists whose fan base is entirely based on the unique art they create. Here is a list of top NFT creators that you should keep an eye on in 2022, as much bigger NFT projects are anticipated that would be worth millions.
Pak
Twitter: @muratpak
Murat Pak is a mysterious NFT artist with a hidden identity whose artworks are as cryptic as his persona. He’s known for his uncanny taste in NFTs; all of his pieces are more than just artwork; they’re a portal to a world of intriguing possibilities.
One such crypto art “The Fungible” was Sotheby’s first NFT sale that fetched around $17 million over a three-day drop. His other NFT project “Lost Poets” brought in almost $70 million in NFT sales in just 2 hours.
That’s not all, his latest project seems to be breaking all the records ever made by any living artist. His most recent “Merge” NFT crossed over $90 million in 48 hours, becoming the largest sale ever, which also ranked him first in the list of most expensive NFTs of the year.
The ‘Merge’ project was the most prominent among all. In this project, 312,686 units of mass of unique NFT are created for each collector. With this massive sum, he also secured first place in the list of top NFT artists in terms of sales volume.
The anonymous tech-savvy NFT artist with his experimental programmable NFT collections snatched the headlines from mainstream NFTs. He with all his artworks has shifted the attention from artist to art itself.
Interestingly, he has sold a total of 66,319 artworks in 2021, demonstrating the popularity of his NFTs. It goes without saying, Pak will continue to usher into the NFT space’s upper echelons in 2022.
Beeple
Twitter: @beeple
Mike Winkelmann, who goes by the name Beeple, is another NFT artist on the list who is worth following for his amazing crypto art in 2022.
It all started when his NFT “Everydays: The First 5,000 Days” gained over $69 million in sales. The piece is a collage of Beeple’s work starting at the beginning of the project when he was experimenting with crude sketches. It runs through years of evolving digital artworks throughout his artistic career. Since then, the NFT industry boomed and more artists took inspiration from him to create crypto art.
His other NFT drop “Human One” sold for $28.9 million, is his first-ever life-size sculpture that was auctioned at Christie’s. It is a seven-foot-tall sculpture, fetching the third-largest sum paid for an NFT. It is a moving sculpture portraying an astronaut walking through a variety of extraterrestrial atmospheres.
This “Dynamic” NFT, as per Beeple, will be edited periodically using the blockchain and will keep on updating the footage throughout his lifetime. His NFT “Crossroads,” also secured its place in the list of most expensive artworks sold in 2021. The piece was sold for $6.6 million and was based on a response to the 2020 presidential elections.
From Beeple’s “Everydays” series, ‘Ocean Front’ NFT is a new age masterpiece that depicts the dangers of climate change. This NFT was sold for $6 million that adds one more artwork to the list of most expensive NFTs of the year. His unique artworks have gained him a huge following on social media. This year, it would be interesting to see how Beeple will unfurl more such amazing crypto art.
XCOPY
Twitter: @XCOPYART
XCOPY, a crypto artist, who is famous for his abstract illustrations and motion NFTs, was all over NFT space by the end of the year. The hype went too far when rapping sensation Snoop Dogg purchased the animated Ethereum NFT “Some Asshole” for 1300 ETH by XCOPY.
Followed by another NFT meme art “Right-click save As guy” from XCOPY which Snoop bought for 1600 ETH which is about $7 million. In 2021, XCOPY sold over 1916 artworks, indicating that sales will surely pick up next year. If Snoop can’t resist XCOPY’s artworks, then we can’t even afford to miss out on his upcoming NFTs in 2022.
That’s not all, his “All Time High in the City” NFT has stirred up the craze in dystopian themed artworks once again. The NFT sold for a stunning 1630 ETH on SuperRare, that’s $6,189,469 at current market prices. The artwork portrayed a ferryman as he transports a weary trader to hell in his boat. The dystopian aesthetics such as deep hues of red and black, with glitching effect, has spread a spooky vibe to the artwork.
His other eye-widening work “A Coin for the Ferryman” is characterized by vibrant color stripes background, and over it, the distorted picture of a guy is drawn. This unique piece is worth about $6,017,292, that’s 1330 ETH. It’s suggested to keep up with his upcoming artworks to not miss any of his amazing dystopian-themed illustrations.
Fewocious
Twitter: @fewocious
Victor Langlois, popularly known as Fewocious is a 19-year-old NFT artist who emerged as the show stealer in 2021. His NFTs are funky colorful drawings that represent snapshots of his memories and his passion for creating art that resonates with anyone looking for artistic depth.
Some of his NFTs are I Taught Myself How To Fly, When a Child Feels Lost, My Mama’s Dream, Overthinking Again and so on. The title of NFT speaks for itself; with his exquisite refreshing art, he has voiced his raw emotions.
In barely over a year, these NFTs had grossed over $17 million. This young rising artist will undoubtedly make it to 2022 with fantastic art creations that the NFT community has been anticipating!
Hackatao
Twitter: @Hackatao
The Italian pioneers of crypto art, a man and a woman, who jointly work under the name “Hackatao” have gained recognition in NFT space with their versatile artworks. The name comes from the fusion of two words “Hacker” and “Tao”. While “Hacker” means a person who overcomes imposed boundaries with ingenuity and creativity, “Tao” represents ‘all living’.
The creation of their art pieces involves intertwining major societal issues, humanity, the environment and cryptocurrencies, with their surrealist pop style. They have introduced a new realm of creating art that is heavily inspired by the Podmork, whimsical totemic creatures that are protagonists of Hackatao’s works.
Their detailed artworks also have subtle references to art history, psychology, and symbolism. One such artwork is ‘Flood’, auctioned at 250 ETH ($777,415). It features an animated nude giantess, inked head to toe in messages of stress and fear, such as “wake up humans” and “truth”.
Another groundbreaking animated piece is ‘LOL’ which is worth 185 ETH, standing at $575,287. Among all their artworks, ‘IMAGO, 2K2 A.C’ is their most expensive piece sold for a mighty $299.803, that’s $932,285.
The OG crypto artists have made the top-selling chart with over 4,600 artworks sold last year. As the name Hacktao suggests, ‘Hack’ for the pleasure of discovering what’s hidden inside, while ‘Tao’ for Yin and Yang, we would surely see more fresh art born from their dynamic creative balance. The year 2022 will surely give us plenty of masterpieces from this Italian duo to influence and inspire.
3LAU
Twitter: @3LAU
Justin Blau, better known by his DJ name 3LAU, entered into NFT space through an unusual auction with 33 NFTs, marking the third anniversary of his Ultraviolet album. With this launch, the DJ star became the first to tokenize an album. Moreover, the three-day sale of these NFTs accumulated a total of $11.7 million.
The launch included a custom song, access to never before heard music on his website, and custom art based on his music and the latest versions of Ultraviolot’s 11 original songs. The DJ star became the first to tokenize an album. Moreover, the three-day sale of these NFTs accumulated a total of $11.7 million.
Amid the boom in NFT throughout the year, 3LAU launching his NFT-based music platform Royal was another head-turning moment for his fans. Royal became popular as the platform allowed fans to purchase the rights to earn royalties from their favourite artists and songs.
This new type of NFT site soon grabbed a bulk of headlines and many global music artists including The Chainsmokers, Nas, Logic, Stefflon Don, Kygo, etc, joined the platform, Royal.
At the year-end, Blau gave away 33 limited digital assets representing 50% streaming ownership in his latest single ‘Worst case’. In just two weeks, the song has gained over $6 million with fans holding half of the value.
The support from artists and fans in Royal’s success has been overwhelming. From EDM to hip-hop, the platform enjoyed popularity across several genres. The interest and demand will go on to increase exponentially this year as well. For the people who want to have little music-NFT fun with royalty ownership, it’s a good idea to keep up with 3LAU NFT adventures in 2022.
Trevor Jones
Twitter: @trevorjonesart
UK-based NFT artist Trevor Jones has made millions in just a day selling NFTs, and that’s when he flung into crypto fame. He began turning his paintings into short video clips to sell as NFTs.
The piece that gathered immense attention to his work was “Bitcoin Angel” which sold for around $3 million in just seven minutes. Back then, the artwork set a record for the most expensive edition.
He is known for experimenting with famous art pieces and adding a crypto twist to them. Later, he began to take more risks with his art, indulging in a new niche for himself, integrating QR codes and AR into his artworks. He also transformed paintings at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery into crypto bigwigs using augmented reality; he kept on evolving his art throughout the year.
His highest-selling piece, “Genesis,” in collaboration with Argentine comic book designer Jose Delbo. He beautifully interpreted the pencil sketch of Batman made by Jose in oil on canvas. The artwork was auctioned off at 302.5 ETH, totalling $941,746. His artworks ‘EthBoy’ and ‘Who Is The Creator 2’ also sold for a stunning 260 ETH and 150 ETH respectively.
He has sold over 6,000 artworks in 2021 alone, this indicates 2022 holds much more in store for him as the NFT market is in its boom. This year, it would be interesting to see his artwork evolve in a variety of genres.
