Unleash the public mess into a non-event
Join the most important conversation in crypto and web3! Secure your place today
Monday 6 March at Claire Silvera well-regarded non-fungible token (NFT) artist who uses artificial intelligence (AI) in her work excitedly announced on Twitter and through an exclusive article in Variety that she would be exhibiting her art at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.
According to Variety, her work was to be presented at the Louvre “courtesy of Superchief Gallery NFT” and was set to premiere on March 21. The “Superchief-Louvre show,” as Variety wrote, would be a display of her latest collection titled “Can I Tell You a Secret,” which would be a series of 100 pieces created with AI.
Silver, whose work has been auctioned off by Sotheby’s and shown in galleries worldwide, also shared on Twitter that her one-of-a-kind NFT artwork “Love in the 4th Turning” would be on display at the Louvre.
The news drew praise and support from artists and collectors across the NFT space, who saw the exhibition as a sign of how digital art is gaining legitimacy in the traditional art world. Other museums, i.a Center Pompidou in ParisThe British Museum and the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) have recently embraced NFT art, so a display at the Louvre initially seemed plausible.
Still, Silver’s announcement was immediately met with skepticism online from members of the traditional art space — some suggested the exhibit would likely be at the Carrousel du Louvre, an underground shopping mall located near the Louvre museum, while others crudely suggested Silver was duped by unrealistic expectations.
Friday 10 In March, the Louvre confirmed that Silver would not be exhibiting there, prompting an outpouring of support for Silver from disappointed NFT enthusiasts who questioned how the embarrassing mix-up happened.
A case of miscommunication?
When the Louvre finally set the record straight, Silver released (and soon after deleted) her version of events. Later, she tweeted that she was “unsure who misrepresented things”.
Superchief GalleryThe NFT Art Gallery who helped facilitate the exhibition of Claire’s work, too posted a lengthy statement on Twitter shares his version of events. It said people at Paris Blockchain Week, a blockchain summit to be held at the Carrousel du Louvre later this month, had lied about the details of the exhibition.
“They told us that Paris Blockchain Week has rented (“privatized”) the Louvre Museum. They said that the Louvre Museum had a rental area for the conference and that they were happy for us to come in as their “art partner” “, said Superchief Gallery in its statement.
Shortly after, Superchief Gallery said its representatives called Silver to share the news. The gallery claims that Paris Blockchain Week “did not represent the details and facts of that meeting, or any meeting we had afterward,” only learning of the mix-up on Twitter after the story of Silver’s exhibit went viral.
Superchief Gallery claims in its statement that Paris Blockchain Week overpromised. In the end, the gallery decided to cancel its participation in the event altogether.
Paris Blockchain Week shared another version of events. Organizers told CoinDesk that the location of the event was clearly stated in the headline and in the text of the contract they presented. CoinDesk was able to view the contract over Zoom to confirm.
“It would not be in our interest to try to mislead in any way,” organizers said.
The team said they did not speak directly to Silver in planning the details of the showroom.
“We’ve never heard of her. And she’s never heard of us,” they said, adding that in light of the accident, they recently connected with Silver and offered to work together next year.
They shared that while the conference is otherwise being held at the Carrousel du Louvre, a fact spread across their digital marketing materials, they plan to host a private VIP dinner inside the Louvre museum, although they say this was never discussed in the first place. with Silver or the third party agency organizing on her behalf. They claimed that the organization of the event came with “very strict rules” and that they have been “extremely attentive” to the images and text used to promote the event.
Messages reviewed by CoinDesk suggest that Paris Blockchain Week representatives discussed the private VIP event at the Louvre museum days after Silver shared news of the exhibit.
“Only after the Louvre contacted Claire did the agency begin discussions about ways Claire’s artwork could be displayed at any time that could be considered inside the Louvre museum—out of desperation. We looked at solutions to try to accommodate, but without knowing the full extent of promises already made to Claire by the agent.”
A spokesperson for global talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME), which represents Silver, told Variety in a statement that “it is unfortunate that a third party has misrepresented the details of this opportunity to our client Claire Silver. We fully support Claire and believe she acted with integrity throughout this process.”
It is unclear whether there was a miscommunication at any point during the negotiation process. Early, informal talks about the possibility took place at another event in Paris last month. However, the official contract was only signed between the two parties after Silver’s public announcement had been made.
Ultimately, it appears that neither Paris Blockchain Week nor Superchief Gallery intended to deliberately deceive Silver or the public. Neither party would have benefited in the long term by lying about something so easily disproven, just to damage Silver’s good reputation in the art world.
The Artist’s Burden
Many people on social media came to Silver’s defense, noting that complex dynamics often exist involving artists, agents, galleries, brokers and museums. Ultimately, artists seem to bear the brunt of the backlash from perceived failures, regardless of who else was involved or what happened behind the scenes.
“A gallery’s success is measured by the success of its artists, and success for artists is determined by intricate measures of approval: What important museum exhibitions have they been in? Which biennials? Have the right collectors caught on?” wrote ARTNews in 2020.
Claire told CoinDesk that she has taken a step back from the situation to preserve her well-being.
“I am way out of my depth and have removed myself accordingly. Things went wrong on every level and I was naive and flying too close to the sun to catch the problem myself.”
She explained that she had reasons to believe that the exhibition at the Louvre was legitimate – she noted that the Louvre is closed to the public on Tuesdays and that the proposed exhibition would have been on a Tuesday. “I’ve seen artists use the museum as a setting for music videos, etc., so it made sense to me that an exhibition was possible on a Tuesday,” she said.
Ultimately, she said she does not blame any of the parties involved for the accident. “I respect what [Paris Blockchain Week] does for digital artists, and would have liked to have exhibited at [Carrousel du Louvre] if it was in any other context. I also deeply respect and am extremely grateful to Superchief for fighting harder for AI collaborative artists than anyone else in the space.”
