Gm,

If you are still reading these Minutes, congrats on surviving 2022.

In 2023, we kick the digital renaissance into high gear. LFG!

For the first issue of the year, let’s look back at 2022.

As we highlight the 12 most iconic works of digital art… as pointed out by you in this Twitter post…

Many agree that the works below moved the culture forward. Either artistically, by creating a notable moment, or both.

Of course, it was no surprise… that all 12 works are… [my bags]!

Haha I kid. But of course, I do own some of these pieces. For if I were to not grab at least one or two of the most iconic works each year… my name would not be Medici.

Whatever. Let us begin!

In no particular order…

1. BLeU by TJO

No work sent more shock waves through the digital art community than this masterpiece by TJO.

While the art is captivating… the reason BLeU was noted by so many is because of the hundreds of derivatives it inspired, from both emerging and established artists.

TJO made the piece CC0 and gave artists the greenlight to go wild, which in turn made BLeU even more coveted.

This was the perfect combo - a cultural moment inspired by great art.

Work owned by bigint.
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​2. VII. Wormfood by Sam Spratt

If you recall, I won Sam’s genesis piece, I. Birth of Luci, back in October 2021. It was a ferocious battle against Fewocious, Punk 6622 and Krybharat!

Since his genesis, Sam kept minting works that pulled us in closer and closer to Luci.

So when I got word that his new work, VII. Wormfood, had been curated by Christie’s and Ryan Zurrer to be part of a charity sale, I jumped in to bid, knowing it would be another battle.

As the clear centerpiece of this spectacular auction… the battle did not disappoint! I ended up finally hearing the hammer slam when it reached 3x the low estimate. Equaling the price of the Beeple 1/1 in the auction!

Work owned by The Cozomo de’ Medici Collection.

3. Year 6, Age 19 - Growing Pains by FEWOCiOUS

Fewo made history at Christie’s when he became the first artist to paint a work at the New York Headquarters, leading up to the Post-war & contemporary art day sale.

I’m a fan of bodies of work that grow over time and act as a timestamp of the artist's life. And no one has done a better job of this than Fewo, with the series Hello, i’m Victor (FEWOCiOUS) and This Is My Life. I felt Fewo’s presence in the day sale with a physical work accompanied by an NFT, as well as him making history with the first ever live painting at Christie’s made this a notable moment of 2022.

While this would have been a wonderful addition to the Collection, I was sad to have missed the auction while on voyage with no service.

Consider yourself lucky this time, 6529 & team! ;)

4. Open The Floodgates by Joe Pease

There are a small group of artists that have clearly stood out in 2022, by rewriting what is possible atop the digital canvas.

Perhaps on top of this list is Joe Pease.

Joe’s work pulls you into a world that I feel could only exist as a lucid dream. When this work was first shared on Twitter, it received praise from notable curators, artists and collectors, all in acknowledgement of this work as a masterpiece.

And by creating a work that’s truly different, I feel this moves the space forward by showing us what’s possible.

Work owned by Osprey NFT Fund.

5. Memories of Qilin by Emily Xie

When Emily dropped Memories of Qilin, the work captured the attention of patrons in generative art and beyond, all in awe at the beauty of the outputs.

Inspired by East Asian art, the work is a stand out project in the ArtBlocks Curated Collection. As one of the now best-selling female generative artist, Emily’s work is inspiring women from all corners of the world to explore their talents.

Collection of 1,024 with multiple owners.

6. Cow by Grant Yun

Cow was another example of a notable cultural moment inspired by art.

This work also marked two important moments in the culture.

First, the rise of Grant Yun, who was selling works for single digit ETH not too long ago, to a top digital artist doing double digital ETH sales for his works.

Second, the start of the CC0 boom, which eventually led to many other notable moments, artworks and projects.

It seems like I am seeing new ‘Cow’ derived artworks on my timeline, still, each and every day!

Work owned by Defianceworks.

7. Unsupervised by Refik Anadol

2022 was a breakout year for AI. Yes, Refik’s exhibition at the MoMA is a massive W for the AI art movement but I thought the concept behind the art, using AI to interpret more than 200 years of art at the MoMA, made the moment unforgettable.

Unsupervised will be remembered for planting a digital AI flag at a museum many felt would be out of reach for cryptoart… at least for a few years longer.

But we are here now. And we cannot be stopped.

Owned by Pablo Fraile & Ryan Zurrer.​

8. c l a i r e by Claire Silver

You can’t speak of AI, without mentioning the Prompt Queen herself!

You all know just how much I love Claire’s work and how important I feel she is to the space.

So I thought her SR genesis, owned by the great collector Batsoupyum, was an important moment for AI art.

With the power of AI and Claire’s ability to work magic with prompts, the genesis piece could have quite literally been *anything* but I LOVED how it was a self-portrait.

Of course, Claire is anon so I especially liked the idea of a self-portrait of an anonymous artist as their genesis on SR. Well done, Claire.

Work owned by Batsoupyum.

9. Ascension by C3

Quite often, we forget we’re in our own bubble, insulated from the world at large. So I love art that is created with a bigger purpose in mind.

Ascension by C3 is one such piece that brought our attention to the uprising in Iran. This work started many hard conversations and made us rethink what’s important. I feel this work will age like fine wine, as C3 evolves as an artist and activist.

Work owned by VincentVanDough.

10. QQL by Tyler Hobbs & Dandelion Wist

With QQL, Tyler and Dandelion broke the fourth wall and allowed the collector to become a co-creator of the work they mint.

I’m always in search of firsts in the space and I believe QQL was the beginning of a bigger trend of artists and collectors working closely together in a way that was impossible before web3.

And one of the things I love most about QQL, is the camaraderie it inspired between collector and creator, as new masters of the outputs emerged, sharing their QQL seeds with collectors who would then mint them.

A special shoutout to the Horndog, Pastel, and Drzee… with whom this lovely diptych was co-created, that now sits in The Cozomo de' Medici Collection:

Project by Tyler Hobbs and Dandelion Wist. Works owned by all who wish to partake.
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​11. Self by Rik Oostenbroek

If you’re a fan of Rik like I am, you might be familiar with him as a master of dimensional art. 'Self' is his masterwork. Neutral in color yet stops you in your tracks,, evoking the viewer into a colorful journey through the mind and beyond.

Work owned by AOI.​

12. Life and Death by DeeKay Motion

I’ve often talked about the power of the digital canvas to move you in a way the physical can’t.

So when one of the great digital masters of our time, DeeKay Motion, tweeted a preview of Life and Death, I was blown away by the response it got.

The thread I wrote on acquisition is still shared daily by new readers who stumble upon the work. Every day I read a new comment about how it's moved someone in a way art never has before.

I especially LOVED how it transcended our little “art bubble”, with thousands of normies sharing and commenting on it, not knowing or caring it would be minted.

That’s the power of an artwork created atop a global, digital network.
And I predict one day in the near future, all patrons on the globe will know the name ‘DeeKay Motion’, as they now know Warhol and Picasso.
Work owned by The Cozomo de’ Medici Collection.

​Honorable mention

Although not necessarily an artwork, I felt UkraineDAO's auction of the Ukraine flag as an NFT was iconic in its own way. The sale generated $6.75m, showing the power of web3 technology to bring us together as a community, to make a massive impact.

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What was your favorite digital art work from 2022? What do you think of these choices? Tweet at me using #MediciMinutes. Don’t DM or it will get lost. And if any of your frens would enjoy reading the Minutes, I really appreciate any shares.

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All my best 🍷⚔️

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CdM