1stDibs, a leading marketplace for extraordinary design, is primarily known for its retailing of high-end items within the realms of furniture, jewellery and art. Another string of the company’s opulent bow is auctions and NFTs. With a program of monthly curated exhibitions featuring top CryptoArtists, the 1stDibs NFT art marketplace is a continuation of the brand’s mission to promote curation, quality, and authenticity that have led it to become a leading destination for those seeking the most beautiful things on earth.
The company’s April NFT art exhibition is titled ‘BL00M’ and is headlined by Spanish multidisciplinary Ignasi Monreal, along with four other prominent CryptoArtists. Although a product of five different minds, each of the seven distinct artworks will be focused around the human connection with nature, with the universe of flowers serving as the exhibition’s vocal point.
The NFTs
Monreal’s nine artworks are based around the iconic Poppy, Lotus and Tulip flowers, with each artwork having the purpose of fusing the natural wonders with the seemingly arbitrary complications of human beings.
Monreal has chosen two ways to do so, with the first being three flowers which have a profound connection to the human existence – the poppy alludes to opium, and therefore the addictive nature of cryptocurrency exchanges, the lotus flower is a symbol of purity and spiritual awakening, as well prosperity and success, and the tulip flower represents ‘financial bubbles’ created by human beings, referencing to the ‘tulip mania’ of Holland in the 17th Century.
The second method of Monreal is his ‘dynamic digital garden’ concept, which is arguably one of the most creative NFT innovations to date. This is because each artwork depicts the ever-changing dynamics of this thing we humans call ‘crypto,’ by allowing its flower artwork to blossom when the asset is sold, or wilt when the market is bare. Other metaphorical inferences will also be included in the artworks, such as changing skies and buzzing insects, which, upon tapping into your floral intuition, will help inform you of the state of the crypto market.
All nine of Monreal’s distinct, colourful, and ever-dynamic designs have been created with the help of London-based animation studio NO GHOST. The other NFTs featured in ‘BL00M’ come from an eclectic mix of artists who share 1stDibs’ and Monreal’s passion for infusing poetry with art, and human existence with flowers.
‘What a Beautiful Place to Breakdown’ by London-based artist CoverArtGuy features a restorative quality, with its centrepiece being a woman leaning into a vintage car within an oasis of flowers. For the artist, the juxtaposition between a car and nature is symbolic of the need to step back and adjust when navigating the sometimes unconscious human experience.
‘Child of Light’ by SOULPAINTS features a Gustav Klimt-inspired angel which is surrounded by cosmic symbols that simultaneously depict the sun, moon, earth’s orbit, and a sunflower. The name behind the artwork is code for ‘student of wisdom,’ a pivotal teaching from 17th Century hermetic philosophy.
‘Bedroom View’ by German-based artist Aris Roth is a futurist, anime-esque dreamscape which features an eye-catching female figure who appears to be emboldened by the flower-abundant scenery around her.
The final piece, ‘Wild Thoughts’ by Shay the Surrealist, is a metaphorical take which features a silhouette of a young man’s head being transformed into a Northern Renaissance-style collage. Within the contents of the man’s head is a collection of florals, fruits and a hummingbird, which each subtly depict the most prominent parts of a human’s neck and skull.
The BL00M Auction
The collection’s namesake auction is technically already up and running, however each asset’s initial reserve price must be hit in order for the auction clock to begin ticking. Depending on the artwork in question, the reserve price will be in the range of Ξ1.0000 (£2,290) to Ξ4.0000 (£9,160). Each of the artworks is a complete one-of-one.
Other NFTs Endeavours from 1stDibs
BL00M is the 11th NFT exhibition from 1stDibs, meaning there are ample more illustrious digital art offerings on the site. The exhibitions are also inspired by a wide variety of artistic styles, including genres such as ‘net art,’ real and surreal 3D animations, music production, formal elements of the digital canvas, and themes such as escapism, ‘metaglyphs’, portals, ‘strange worlds,’ and more.
As you’d expect, many of the artworks from such exhibitions have already been snatched up by Web3 art enthusiasts via auction. However, not all are gone, so make sure to check out 1stDibs’ exhibition page to see if anything takes your artistic fancy.
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*All investment/financial opinions expressed by NFT Plazas are from the personal research and experience of our site moderators and are intended as educational material only. Individuals are required to fully research any product prior to making any kind of investment.
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