Award-winning artist Kristel Bechara, the first Arab female artist to launch an NFT tokenized art series from the UAE and the Middle East, announces the sale of her first piece: Satochi Nakamoto, listed in the Beauty in Diversity &DeFi collection on Foundation. App. After moving the piece from OpenSea(which was first listed on March 24th) to Foundation.App on Saturday, March 27th, her first piece started receiving bids the following Sunday morning. The artwork sold in less than 24hrs to a renowned NFT collector, swiftly outbidding all other participants for 1.10 ETH ($1,950).
Her second piece, Byzantine General’s Shield went on auction on Foundation.app on Thursday, March 25th. The first bid came through within a few hours which prompted its transfer into a tab for live auctions for a 24-hour period. The bidding started at 0.1 ETH and later, it was sold for 3 ETH ($5,324) to a prominent NFT collector who just made history by adding to his collection Kevin Roose’sNew York Times NFT article for 350 ETH ($600000).
Her latest piece, called FOMO is also up for grabs and can be purchased on the platform Foundation.App. This artwork is a representation of the state of FOMO, and how significant the invention of cryptocurrency and DeFiis and by not adopting or embracing this technology right now, collectors will not just have the fear of missing out but they will actually miss out on the opportunity of being a part of the future.
The artist will also be releasing a series of limited-edition paintings (25 unique limited editions) that can be bought with a redeemableNFTon OpenSea, the world’s largest digital marketplace for crypto collectibles and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The digital art from this collection will also be redeemable for a physical representation mailed directly to the collector. She will also be offering an NFT for each commission or original paintings going forward which collectors can use as proof of ownership and certification of authenticity.
“As someone who has been creating digital art for a number of years,I wanted to participate in this movement as soon as I learned about it. I am delighted to see the recognition that digital art is finally receiving. For years I have had to explain to people that art produced digitally is not any way inferior to artisanal traditional art and both should be appreciated in their own way. As an artist who created both traditional and digital art, I can attest that the authority and creative process to create each piece is the same, yet one is developed and exhibited using modern tools,” Kristel Bechara explained.
According to the artist, NFTs are going to impact the art world in the following ways:
- It’s a very powerful technology and needs to be watched closely – early adopters will reap the benefits.
- It will educate more people about cryptocurrencies, blockchain and smart contracts which can have an impact on their future financial decisions.
- It will elevate the status of digitally produced art.
- NFTs will impact the art world at large and will be the gold standard for verification of authenticity and establishment of provenance not only for digital artwork but also for the radially produced pieces. Moreover, digital artwork created from 2021 onwards will most likely have an NFT, creating a more transparent history linked to the piece.
- It will offer artists accessibility to new markets and mediums to express artistic ideas.
- The fact that artists will finally receive royalties every time their artwork changes hands,will have a huge impact on the industry. Just like musicians and singers are able to perpetually earn revenue from their productions, artists too can benefit for a longer period. This will support more artists in the future and create a clearer platform for success.
Additionally, with the growth in demand, Atelier Kristel Bechara will now be accepting payment via cryptocurrencies for online and offline sales. Starting from April 1st, 2021, all of the artwork purchased from her studio will have an NFT certificate which will be optional for clients with crypto wallets. Her NFT certified artwork will be redeemable for actual paintings should the collector request a physical representation.
