Who Is Beeple?

read time 5 minutes

Welcome to Bit Education. A daily newsletter where I provide simple, informative articles to enhance your knowledge, protect your investments, and feel at peace with cryptocurrency.

Today at a Glance:

• I go over who Beeple is, and his evolution as an artist and how he became involved with NFTs

• Dive into his “Everdays” series, where he created a piece of digital art for over 5000 days

• NFTs and Beeple’s recoginsation in the traditional art world

Who is Beeple?

Micheal Joseph Winkelmann, better known as Beeple in the cryptocurrency community, is a digital artist and graphic designer, best known for his creation of NFTs.

Beeple creates comical work, often a political and social commentary, referencing pop culture figures. Legacy auction house Christies described him as

“A visionary digital artist at the forefront of NFTs” - Christies

Beeple was introduced to NFTs in 2020 by Murat “Pak”, another cryptocurrency artist/advocate.

“Everydays”

Starting March 1st 2007, before the inception of cryptocurrency. The “Everydays” involves creating a piece of art daily. Beeple has continued this series for over 5000 days.

Inspired by Tom Judd, who did a drawing every day for a year, Winkelmann saw it as a beneficial way to sharpen his drawing skills. Beeple uses recognisable pop culture figures or politics to satirise current events.

NFT Sales

Beeples first NFTs were sold at auction at ETHDevener, more were sold on Nifty Gateway. One of these NFTs “Crossroads” would change into one of two animations depending on the winner of the 2020 US Election. It sold for $66,666.00 and later resold for $6.7 million.

“Everydays: The First 5000 Days” was a collage of images from the “Everydays” series. It sold at auction for $69,000,000 on March 11, 2021. It was the first NFT to be sold at a legacy auction house, and the first sale at Christies that could be paid in Ether (ETH). This event marked the adoption of digital art and NFTs into the traditional art world, and garnered worldwide attention for NFTs.

Beeple continued his work on NFTs in the traditional art world with the creation of HUMAN ONE. The piece was a 7-foot-high sculpture, a generative work of art, that would dynamically change, both physically and digitally. It sold at Christies for $28,958,000 to collect Ryan Zurrer. Beeple described the work as:

“The first portrait of a human born in the metaverse” - Beeple

Closing Thoughts

The saying consistency is key, speaks volumes to me when I think about Beeple. He is an artist who is passionate. He was creating artwork consistently for over a decade before evening selling NFTs.

Beeple has marked a pivotal point in digital art, forcing NFTs to be acknowledged by the traditional art world.

Thanks

Ben - AKA Waldo