The company’s NYC gallery pop-up spent the summer highlighting digital artists creating blockchain-based art on its platform.
SuperRare, the company known for curating a blockchain-based digital art marketplace, is getting ready to close the doors on its debut art gallery in New York this month.
SuperRare featured a rotating roster of NFT and crypto-focused exhibitions and programs throughout the summer. Originally slated to run from May 19 to Aug. 28, SuperRare extended the pop-up gallery through the end of September.
SuperRare’s gallery space is situated in SoHo on W Broadway, smack in the middle of the art-centric universe.
“From the jump, we knew we wanted to be in SoHo because of its connection to the traditional art world,” Arianne Lapidus, the gallery manager for SuperRare’s NYC pop-up, told Boardroom in an exclusive interview. “This whole area is filled with galleries and has been this way for a very long time.”
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Lapidus joined SuperRare in the early spring to bring the company’s first physical gallery space to life. She describes the space as a traditional gallery with white walls, gray floors, and natural lighting. Photos are hung 60 inches above the floor and positioned at equal distances apart from each other.
Since SuperRare specializes in fine art and one-of-one NFTs, the company wanted to show art in both a traditional and new way. The gallery showcases a mixture of two-dimensional art, video representations, and stagnant digital pieces. There’s even a poetry-based installation.
“We thought the physical space could help compound the point we’re trying to make about art in the tech space,” Lapidus said.
Cryptoart Couture
Digital art has existed for a while, but with the power of the blockchain, artists can better monetize, track, and protect their intellectual property. With the burgeoning Web3 space, SuperRare opened its art gallery to bring the digital world back into the physical realm through art exhibitions.
Aligned with that, SuperRare coined the term cryptoart to describe the type of work it showcases in its gallery.
“Cryptoart is a new term we’re playing around with [and] trying to really hone in on the specifics of what it is we’re creating. The term you hear more broadly is NFTs, which can be any digital asset; they do not have to be art,” Lapidus explained. “Humans will always recognize and gravitate toward art. I think cryptoart is a more accurate term for what we’re creating.”
Lapidus envisions cryptoart expanding to new heights, including crypto architecture, crypto music, and beyond. She said specificity is the key here in the future to get people to take the growing market seriously.
During New York Fashion Week, SuperRare collaborated with Vault Art Space by Gucci and NYFW designer Marrisa Wilson to put on an art exhibition called Cryptoart Couture. The exhibition featured 19 artists showcasing artwork that explores the intersection of fashion and the metaverse.
Each piece of artwork was accompanied by a QR code that takes viewers to SuperRare’s site listing. People could make bids in real time for the pieces.
SuperRare created a curatorial team that takes charge of finding and connecting with artists to use its platform. That same team curates the company’s shows and galleries, hand-selecting each work of art to be displayed. SuperRare did some extra work to feature diversity in the Cryptoart Couture exhibition, which includes work from BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ creators.
Could we see another SuperRare pop-up gallery soon? Or maybe even a permanent space? Potentially. We’ll be following the company to see what comes next.
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