damien hirst, teamlab and others land at the new gyre gallery NFT expo

by James · March 18, 2023

gyre gallery presents its latest selection of artists

Tokyo’s Gyre Gallery launches its latest display, ‘Artistic Experiments in an Age of Hypertechnological Reproduction ー What Will NFTs Change About Art?’ The event runs from 24 March to 21 May 2023 and puts the spotlight on nature NFTs and the many ways in which their recent boom could change the art scene as we know it. An NFT, short for Non-Fungible Token, is a unique cryptographic asset powered by blockchain technology; it cannot be replicated or traded and has a clear record of the owner.

From Damien Hirst to teamLab and Rafaël Rozendaal, the exhibition brings together an impressive pool of artists and introduces their NFTs in three chapters: Sharing, Aura of the Simulacra and Transnational Power. Each theme corresponds to the basic prerequisites for any work of art: Ownership/contract, creation and exhibition.

‘Center’ (2022) © Rafaël Rozendaal | photo courtesy of the artist

trace the history of nfts and their impact on contemporary art

Specifically, the exhibition at Gyre Galleri (see more here) traces the history of NFTs – starting in 2014, with the first ever ‘digital token’ created by New York artists Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, called ‘Quantum’. But it wasn’t until a few years back, sometime between 2017 and 2021, that this blockchain-driven phenomenon really took off before it instantly collapsed with the boom of cryptocurrencies (Ethereum, Bitcoin, etc.).

Furthermore, as the title suggests, the show links back to the 20th century when reproductive technology began to spread like wildfire. Philosopher Walter Benjamin, a leading thinker of this era, began to question the reproduction craze and how works of art could begin to lose their ‘uniqueness’ or ‘disposability’.

‘NFT / Eternal Mass’ © Mariko Mori (2022) | courtesy the artist

‘Is NFTs something more than turning art into a speculative financial instrument? Or can it destroy the existing rules of society and art, bring liberation of expression and create a new history? This online and offline exhibition and related publications raise questions about new meaning and value systems created by NFTs and examine and redefine the role played by contemporary artists in an unprecedented information environment. It explores the impact of virtual space on the reality of our lives and the psyche and culture shaped by it,’ reflects Gyre Gallery.

Besides Damien Hirst, Rafaël Rozendaal and teamLab, exhibited artists include Lu Yang, Robert Alice, Rhea Myers, Shunsuke Takawo, Sol LeWitt (1928-2007), Seth Siegelaub (1941-2013), Mariko Mori, Masaki Fujihata, Taihei, and Tetsutaro Kamatani.

‘DOKU Heaven’ (2022) © Lu Yang | photo courtesy of the artist