10 fxhash generative art projects you need to know

Even in the depths of a bear market, leading Tezo’s generative art platform fxhash has remained fertile ground for the next generation of generative art stars. Launched by generative artist ciphrd in November 2021, fxhash has begun to develop a cult following due to its open model and curation-free ethos.

While the platform is open to anyone seeking to distribute a generative art contract according to its standards, an undeniable upper echelon of artists and projects has formed organically. Here are ten of the most notable projects to get to know if you want to get involved.

As fxhash’s all-time leader in sales volume, Zancan’s magnum opus has emerged as the platform’s blue-chip standard bearer. The French generative artist launched Gardens, Monolith as its fxhash debut in December 2021. Since then, the project has reached grail status, regularly drawing comparisons to Art Blocks’ Fidenza when it comes to critically acclaimed and sought-after nature among collectors. For those who don’t have five figures to drop on one of the 256 coins, Zancan is memorable (kinder) garden, monuments collaboration with Yazid, and his popular and glitchy A Bugged Forest foray is also well worth exploring.

What Chromie Squiggles is for Art Blocks, RGB elemental mobile vending machine is to fxhash. Created by fxhash founder ciphrd, the 1,000-piece collection was the second project ever minted on the platform, and its secondary royalties even helped fxhash remain independent in its early days. Given its history and importance, it’s no surprise that the project has become a beloved symbol of the fxhash community. Even leading artist Zancan made one his PFP in early 2023.

Almost five months before William Mapans Anticyclone taking the Art Blocks scene by storm on Ethereum, the Paris-based generative artist launched his enigmatic Dragons project on fxhash for Tezos believers. Dragons is now the fourth highest in all-time sales volume on the platform and the only project in the top five that does not feature Zancan or ciphrd.

With six fxhash projects and an Art Blocks Curated drop under his belt, Marcelo Soria-Rodriguez has become a key artist to watch in generative art. Released in November 2021 as a series of 773 mints, Counterpoint was his first generative work in a long time and remains in fxhash’s top ten projects by sales volume of all time. The impressive project also had a philanthropic element, with 25% of primary sales proceeds going to Project Lighthouse to support self-sustaining communities in impoverished regions through youth empowerment.

One of the most exciting artists in the generative art world, Tyler Boswell (aka teaboswell) is poised to build on the momentum of his breakout year in 2022. Less than two weeks after launching, his flagship project September had total secondary sales equal to its total production—a feat that only a handful of projects have achieved and which usually takes more than five months. Two months later, Boswell was one of three artists selected for Tezos’ live minting activation at the Art Basel Miami Beach fair. Pro tip: try to see one September output in live mode, where it will continuously draw a new output every few seconds using the same basic parameters with slight variations. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

Feelings of loneliness and despair are palpable Iskra Velitchkovaits strong fxhash debut Uninhabitable. The Bulgarian generative artist (also known as pointline) built the December 2021 project with a generative system using only ellipses resulting in four different compositions that “seek to evoke living constructions and environments.” In July 2022, Velitchkova also teamed up with fellow generative artist Zach Lieberman for another popular project titled horizon(s), which is sixth in all-time sales volume on the platform at the time of publication (“Ubeboelig” is number 12).

With inspiration from Spanish irrigation canals, this simple but evocative project is made of Rich Poole and The paper crane. Combining both day and night palettes, generative designs based on actual Andalusian mountain villages and soothing water animations, Acequia topped the weekly sales volume chart upon release and has cemented its position as one of the platform’s most memorable releases to date. The staircase is also quite reminiscent of MC Escher’s work.

Ryan Bell recently made waves for its Art Blocks Presents collection Hyper Drive: A-Side on Ethereum, but his journey to generative art prominence began on Tezos. While the prolific artist has released ten projects on fxhash, his release date is March 2022 Fragments of a wave remains his flagship on the platform both in terms of commercial (#15 in all-time sales volume) and critical reception. With a floor below 1,000 Tezos at the time of publication, it is also one of the more accessible projects on this list.

Every community comes with its own homemade lore, and fxhash is no exception. While Dutch artist Mark Knolls SMOLSKULL the collection may not look that serious at first glance, it has become a beloved facet of the fxhash ecosystem. Launched in November 2021 as the 14th project ever deployed on the platform, the whimsical pixelated skulls were quickly embraced by the fledgling community as fxhash’s first ever PFP project. While it helped that Knol already had a proven track record as a top-selling artist on the Tezos platform hicetnunc, SMOLSKULL has shown impressive endurance and is still in eighth place in all-time sales volume.

Born in America and based in Saudi Arabia, Melissa Wiederrecht is an accomplished generative artist with two Art Blocks releases (Sudfah on Curated and Sandalia on Presents) and eight fxhash compilations under her belt. Combining vibrant colors and generative brushstrokes, her latest series, Take Wing, is arguably her most definitive generative work to date. Also be sure to check out her more limited series titled Zbageti.

Editor’s note: At the time of publication, the author is the holder of fxhash NFTs of Zancan and teaboswell.