‘Hopeful’ artist Charlie Hewitt launches NFT collection

Charlie Hewitt, a Portland artist perhaps best known for his retro-styled “Hopeful” neon-lit tents, has turned to a new form of art with the creation of his first digital collection of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.

NFTs are cryptographic assets on a blockchain with unique identifiers and metadata, according to investopedia.com.

Collectors have sought NFTs for their value—in this case, as works of art.

“NFTs have the potential for multiple use cases,” the site says. “For example, they are an ideal vehicle for digitally representing physical assets such as real estate and art. Because they are based on blockchains, NFTs can also work to remove intermediaries and connect artists with audiences or identity management.

“NFTs are shaking up the art world,” Hewitt said. “With NFTs, there are no institutional gatekeepers. These works are fully accessible just like an image on the iPhone.”

New technology

At 76, Hewitt is no stranger to embracing new technology.

A Lewiston native with studios in Jersey City, NJ, and Portland, his artwork is represented in numerous collections, including those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the New York Public Library, and the Brooklyn Museum; Library of Congress in Washington, DC; and the Portland Museum of Art. His paintings, prints and sculptures are rooted in expressionism and surrealism.

In recent years, he discovered new creative possibilities with neon sculpture when he was commissioned to create an exhibition at Speedwell Projects, a nonprofit gallery in Portland.

Hewitt decided to create an illuminated sculpture and visited Neokraft Signs Inc., a sign maker in Lewiston whose work includes neon lighting. Hewitt embraced the idea of ​​illuminating images as large-scale retro marquee sculptures in neon and came up with “Hopeful” as a bold statement. David Wolfe at Wolfe Editions—a printer and publisher of letterpress and art books, prints and posters in Portland—helped Hewitt design a retro car font for the sculpture.

To date, he has created aspirational installations in seven states in dozens of locations, both public and private.

As the size of his light sculpture collection grew, in 2021 Hewitt purchased a former flower shop in Portland and converted it into a new exhibition space he calls the “electric greenhouse.”

Energetic creativity

Hewitt said for him, creating NFTs has energized his creative process as he thinks in a new way about creating bold, strong images.

“Now anyone can display multiple images on a screen and change the art in a digital frame whenever they feel like it,” he added.

Each NFT in his collection is meant to depict a story by using bold, colorful images in humorous works.

The NFTs started out as original artwork that was created with Sharpie markers, cut out, collaged and digitized. The images were inspired by Hewitt’s life experiences with art and travel, as well as the lives of artists before his time.

Hewitt said the release of the collection includes 50 NFTs and represents a first phase.

To market the collection, Hewitt created a digital platform designed for NFT e-commerce.

Hewitt said he was inspired by the “power” of digital images through his “Hopeful Project” — illuminated marquee signs made of aluminum that have been installed in outlets ranging from stores to museums from Maine to New Jersey.

In April, he began drawing, doodling and working with paper – a departure from his paintings and large, illuminated signs. Hewitt learned about the blockchain and the idea of ​​a “decentralized” art world as a technology that could preserve works of art for the future.

A collection of Hewitt’s NFTs will be on view 15-22. January 2023, at Moss Galleries in Portland.

To view the collection online, click here.