October 31, 2021

Is Digital Art A New Frontier For Underrepresented Artists?

24 minutes

This week on Under the Radar:

The art world has been turned on its head this year. Visitor numbers to galleries plummeted as the pandemic forced shops to close their doors. The art world had to shift, kicking off a digital art craze. Back in March, a new record was set when a piece of digital artwork, by the artist Beeple, sold for $69 million dollars. The art was sold as a digital file, called an NFT, which stands for “nonfungible token” — a term that can apply to any digital collectible.

Many underrepresented artists who haven’t been given broad access to mainstream galleries think that crypto-traded art could be a viable avenue to sell their work. But will this new frontier offer more opportunities than obstacles?

Guest:

Nettrice Gaskins, Afrofuturist digital artist, assistant director of the Lesley University STEAM Learning Lab, and the author of “Techno-Vernacular Creativity and Innovation: Culturally Relevant Making Inside and Outside of the Classroom.” Her artwork is part of the forthcoming “FUTURES” exhibit at the Smithsonian in November.

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