World renowned Lebanese artist Kristel Bechara is launching her first NFT (non-fungible token) digital artwork depicting Satoshi Nakamoto, which is an homage to the presumed pseudonymous personality who developed Bitcoin. This binary piece of the creator removing the masking shield, called 'Beauty in DeFi', is the artist’s oeuvre of the transition to decentralised finances through the blockchain technology and the evolution of digital art.
Kristel Bechara is the first female artist from the UAE and Middle East to launch a unique painting, which will only be available as an NFT.
Kristel Bechara is an award-winning contemporary artist from Lebanon who is best known for her dynamic patterns and expressive colours. Her artwork demonstrates the revolutionary creation of photographic imagery with oil, acrylic and giclée printmaking mediums to depict emotion.
For over a decade, Kristel has been creating artwork that represents a sense of joy and freedom of the spirit. Her methods involve characteristic stencil-like drawings and sketching combined with modern mixed media lines to form multi-layered fantasy paintings.
The artist will also be releasing a series of limited-edition paintings (25 unique limited editions) that can be bought with a redeemable NFT on 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 pairings going forward which collectors can use as proof of ownership and certification of authenticity.
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“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.
Kristel’s work has been displayed around the world to great appreciation and demand, especially from galleries in Tokyo, Milano, Brussels, and France. She has received high acclaim in UAE as well, notably winning the UAE Resident Artist Award at the 2018 World Art Dubai for her collection, Beauty in Diversity.
