Breakdancing Medicines’ NFTs Auctioned at Sotheby’s – Grant Yun, NFT Creator – Cointelegraph Magazine

Artist name: Grant Riven Yun
Placement: Milwaukee
Date marked first NFT: 3 February 2021
Which blockchains? Ethereum counterpart (Bitcoin)

Who is he?

Grant Yun has always been an artist at heart with an early ambition to have his work shown at a major auction house. A curious and driven person, Yun studies medicine while juggling his work as an artist and performing as a break dancer who has competed across the United States.

Since discovering NFTs just over two years ago, the Wisconsin resident has propelled his art and personal brand into the stratosphere much faster than he imagined. With a minimalist style that evokes nostalgic vibes among collectors and his witty personality on Twitter, Yun carves out a significant percentage of opinion among fans of digital art.

“Before the NFTs, I told myself I wanted to be an artist selling at a big auction house one day because at the time that was my only metric I knew what it meant to be a successful artist. I had no experience as an artist overall , so that was the only metric I had to measure.”

He reached the calculation in October 2022:

“It was surreal to get my job at Sotheby’s. I think the most pivotal moment for me was when I signed the contract… It just felt like such a monumental moment.”

Yun credited NFTs as the accelerator that helped him achieve what might otherwise have taken a decade.

“It’s honestly been surreal. I think the growth of artists in this space is hyper-accelerated. To have achieved what I have achieved should not happen within a decade. For me, it happened within two years of joining the room. But here we are.”

Personal style

Describing his own distinct style, Yun acknowledges the impact of simplicity in evoking memories and the impact of old school games.

“I see my work as minimalistic and nostalgic,” he says. “I think my art is really focused on being ambiguous enough to where people can relate to it with their own personal experiences, but specific enough to where it can evoke certain memories from people’s lives.”

“I try to limit the amount of detail and clutter. It’s really a less is more kind of mentality.”

“With the gaming vibes in my art, it’s mostly based on Nintendo games – especially the Super Nintendo era, Nintendo 64 and GameCube. I feel that Nintendo games, especially those published by Nintendo itself, have a very specific color palette – a bit like Pokemon and The Legend of Zelda. All of these have a very unique and similar set of colors.”

Notable sales to date:

“The Alien” from the series “Space” was sold for 136.9 ETH on July 28, 2022 (equivalent to 236,217 USD on the date of sale).

“Laundry” from the series “Northeast” was sold for 70 ETH on January 28, 2023 (equivalent to 115,182 USD on the date of sale).

“Casa Roja” from “Grant Yun Early Works” was sold for 25 ETH on January 8, 2023 (equivalent to USD 31,596.50 on the sale date).

“En Route #7” from the “Grant Yun x Avant Arte” collection sold for 16 ETH on January 3, 2023 (equivalent to $19,426 USD on sale date).

influences

Traditional art continues to provide inspiration, especially established painters from the early to mid-20th century, such as the American Gothic painter Grant Wood or the pop artist Ed Ruscha.

“Most of my inspiration comes from painters like Grant and Ed and studying painting from the traditional art world.”

Yun added, “I should mention that I like to leave Easter eggs, crypto-related things in my illustrations. But the vision for where my art is going I think has remained the same.”

What should artists be aware of?

As a student of the digital art game and a big fan of generative art in particular, Yun says Mpkoz is one to watch out for. Mpkoz is the artist behind the remarkable collection “Chimera”.

Also receiving props from Yun is Summer Wagner, a new NFT photographer that Justin Aversano also reviewed in a recent NFT Creator.

“Two of my favorites right now are definitely Summer and Mpkoz. There are so many others I know I’m leaving out.”

Process

Known for his ability to uncover the charm in ordinary settings, Yun is also a fan of categories and creating work in a series.

“When I create an illustration, I mostly try to subcategorize them into certain series. I think I do my best in a series,” Yun said.

“For me it helps because I like to see the world in a categorical way. I also think a lot of people do the same unconsciously or consciously. I think this is why we always put a lot of emphasis on collecting a set or even collect in general. For the sake of continuity for myself and also for the collection,” he says. “I try to work with very similar themes from previous illustrations.”

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Having moved from the hustle and bustle of California to the quieter fields of Wisconsin, Yun is passionate about telling a story within his art simply by being present and observing what is right in front of him.

“All my themes come from my experiences, like where I’ve lived and special memories I’ve had. When I’m going to create an illustration, I linger and think about a composition in my head. For example, if I’m driving somewhere and I see a random thing on the side of the road, I’ll get a composition in my head, but I try to shape that composition into a series that I’m working on.”

“Another example might be, if I’m looking out the window and I see a building, I’ll try to make sure I want to use that building as a reference, but the illustration itself will try to embody one of the different themes that I have underway.”

Reflections on the new artist/collector relationship via NFTs

Yun says that the relationship between artist and collector is completely different in the NFT world than in the traditional art world. “Before NFTs, artists were represented by galleries, and the galleries were the line of communication for collectors and buyers. It was almost discouraged – and it still is almost discouraged – for artists to make direct transactions or communications with collectors. This is in complete contrast to what is happening right now in the Web3 area, says Yun.

Like other creators, he attributes his social media presence to building a following. “To be honest, I think part of my success is because of how active I am on Twitter and how willing and eager I am to talk to people.” He adds that he doesn’t think “the value of art should be entirely dictated by one’s willingness to be active on Twitter.”

“I feel for people who might not be in their 20s like I am, or who might not be tech-savvy enough or have the experience that I’ve been around technology essentially since birth.”

Links:

Grant Yun website
Breakdance record and video
Grails III Artist Reveal Show
SuperRare

Greg Oakford

Greg Oakford is co-founder of NFT Fest Australia. A former marketing and communications specialist in the sports world, Greg now focuses his time on running events, creating content and consulting in web3. He is an avid NFT collector and hosts a weekly podcast covering all things NFTs.

Follow the author @GregOakford