CryptoPunks and Autoglyphs to be Displayed at Top Modern Art Museum
The Center Pompidou, a major modern art museum in France, aims to showcase NFTs from some prominent digital artists this summer in its upcoming permanent exhibition.
In an announcement Friday, the art museum said it is preparing to showcase a collection of non-fungible tokens created by 13 digital artists from around the world. The exhibition will specifically include popular some NFTs from blue-chip collections such as CryptoPunk #110 and Autoglyph #25, both of which have been donated to the Center Pompidou.
“The Center Pompidou acquires a set of works dealing with the relationship between blockchain and artistic creation, including its first NFTs!” according to a rough translation of the museum’s tweet. “18 projects by 13 French and international artists are included in the collection.”
In a press release announcing the donation of a CryptoPunk NFT to the museum, Xavier Rey, director of the French National Museum of Modern Art, noted that the Center Pompidou is “pursuing its interest in digital art, in conjunction with the blockchain.” Ray. added:
“Web3 is an innovative territory that artists have now seized to create original and daring work, and this collection confirms our support for artists in their conquest of new modes of expression, which are the basis of modern art.”
Yuga Labs, the company behind popular NFT projects such as Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks, had also previously donated CryptoPunk #305 to the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami at Art Basel 2022. The company said it plans to donate more punks to leading art institutions across world in the future.
Greg Solano, co-founder of Yuga Labs, said this marks “a great moment for the web3 and NFT ecosystem”, as it will pave the way for a collective understanding of how digital art can be accepted and valued for its impact and modern relevance.
It’s worth noting that the hype over NFTs and metaverse assets has cooled dramatically over the past year amid the broader market downturn that has seen major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum lose around 70% of their value compared to all the heights of time.
According to NFT experts at Casinos En Ligne, sales of non-fungible tokens fell by 83 percent year-on-year in 2022. Across all markets, including art, gaming and collectibles, NFT transaction volume fell by at least 83 percent.
The NFT space rose to a record high in January 2022 with monthly sales of $2.8 billion. However, this number saw a steep decline earlier this year following a series of bankruptcies and implosions that saw around $2 trillion wiped from the crypto market.
Earlier this month, The Defiance Digital Revolution ETF, the first-ever ETF focused on NFTs and metaverse assets, announced that it will close at the end of February. Shares in the fund have declined by more than 72% since its debut.
