I am very happy to invite You to the first interview in the series: Art World on Konik Kreatywny. Art World – new series of interviews with Fine Art Galleries from all over the World.
The guest of the first interview in this series is Co – funder of Vitruvius NFT Gallery – Victor Emmanuel Bigand. /France, Montpellier/
The Vitruvius Gallery @vitruvius.nft represents artists such as: @welderwings / @robertmainka / @lhunatica and more.
Victor, You call Vitruvius Gallery “first physical gallery to NFT”. What do you mean by this?
We call ourselves the first physical Gallery dedicated to NFTs in France because we are born directly from the metaverse. Since the initiation of the project we have only wanted to work in the NFT format, which as an art gallery is unique in France.
How long does Vitruvius Gallery exist?
Since March of 2021 in the metaverse “Cryptovoxels”. We started with our first virtual event in May with the exhibition of Lhunatica’s works. Since 29 of October, we have opened our place in the physical world with our Gallery based at Montpellier in France.
How many artists do you represent at the moment?
We are currently working with 10, including of course Robert Mainka from Poland! Those artists represent a lot to us because they are the first to have placed their trust in us. We call them our “artists from the metaverse”. In addition, we support more local institutions, collectifs and artists around their NFT projects.
What kind of art trade do you specialize in? I mean not only a form, but also technique and aesthetics.
We are aiming to sell artists that possess their own style that is recognizable. NFTs do not constrain us to a style. When we recruited our first artists in the metaverse, it even seemed essential to us that everyone had their own identity.
About the technical aspect, we are for now focused on digital creations even if we think a market exists for physical works in NFT.
How do you see the future of art tokenization in France? Are there any records or art openings at your market, that everyone is talking about?
Well, there are many NFTs projects in the making, right now everyone is talking about NFT Paris convention, which is a convention about Crytocurrency that will dedicate an entire day to NFTs and we are going to work with them. We can say that NFT gathers a lot of attention in France, but compared to some other countries we are still far behind: big platforms are again Americans!
Gradually NFT idea becomes closer to us. Still, we are not 100% sure what art in NFT form or maybe rather space (?) is about. Could you provide us more information? Readers and listeners of Konik Kreatywny are both artists and art collectors.
For the digital artists, NFTs provide an authentication of their work that is unchangeable, undeletable and traceable. That’s a big deal because so far an artwork that’s online can be copy and pasted many times, but an NFT is registered on the blockchain and therefore is not.
For the regular artists it provides exactly the same as well as the possibility to sell to a larger worldwide public without having to pass trough art website that will take commission on your art. Also a huge plus with NFTs, when you create them you can earn royalties wich helps artists get some money if their works are sold in the secondary market!
In addition to the artwork, an NFT can provide other things that we call “utilities”. An utility can be for exemple an artist that provides rewards to his NFT collectors: physical works, new free NFT, exclusiv meet, crypto airdrop, exclusiv metaverse places and more).
When Polish artists want to sell NFT artwork, how they can establish cooperation with Vitruvius Gallery?
To collaborate we are looking for 2 things: artists that have a recognizable art style and that have a reliable project of a collection that can work in the NFT market. If you have these two things, do not hesitate to contact us through our website, with your portafolio and your beautiful ideas!
About what means Vitruvius: It’s the Roman architect that released the book that inspired the proportions rules of „L’homme de Vitruve” of Leonard de Vinci /Victor-Emmanuel Bigand, co-funder of Vitruvius Gallery/.
How does cooperation with NFT gallery look like?
We support your project and help you to reach our collectors community through our physical and virtual events. We need projects that fit our vision of contemporary art and please our public.
We can also work with an artist to create a project with him from scratch if he have “just” bright ideas!
As gallerists, we take a cut on the sales and the cut depends on our level of implication.
Beside the projects, we have a collection of artworks from our metaverse artists on Opensea and regularly exhibited at Montpellier with our gallery and on the metaverse. We want to develop this collection over time by adding our favorite artists wishing for simple exhibitions of their artworks.
What technical requirements artist wanting to cooperate with you have to fulfill?
There is nothing technical about working with us. You must obviously have experience as an artist or an impressive portfolio with a coherent art style. We will help you to manage the cryptocurrencies and the legal part with the statuts and declaration.
Who are NFT collectors (age, type, preferences)?
We do not have a clear answer with statistics about this, but in our experience they are certainly relatively young people between their 20s and their 50s. So far we have noticed that they have a good eye for artworks and they like either complexity or utility, and by utility I mean the collectible NFTs that give you access to an exclusive club or market.
With Vitruvius we are focusing on the usuals art collector so maybe our community is a bit older and more focused on contemporary art.
Does NFT art collectors have to have a blockchain account?
Of course they do! One must have an account in cryptocurrency in order to buy NFTs, although there are some projects that are currently working on direct ways of simplifying these transactions so you can buy NFTs with your credit card without having to manage your account on the blockchain.
How do collectors celebrate contact with NFT art? Do they just sit comfortably in an armchair and turn on their computer?
Either they’d computer or their phone! This questions is quite funny but is true, so far our crypto collectors have done that from the comfort of their home without any external pressure, even those who have visited our Gallery waited to get to their homes to comfortably sit in their armchair as you said and purchased the NFTs that we had on exhibition – so yes haha, I think you pictured just right!
How to create art which is about to be sold in NFT technology?
You have to think more about creating a collector community around your collection than traditional artists. Collectors want to stay in touch together and with the artist, they want to be part of a “club” when they purchase an NFT.
Beside that point, any art style is welcome on the blockchain and it’s technically very simple to authentify a piece.
How much does NFT artwork cost at your gallery?
We have a very big range of prices. It depends on the wish of the artist: Number of edition, artist rating or the simple desir of exclusivity. Our cheapest works are larger editions starting at 0.08 eth, some one of a kind are listed 1eth.
Check the links! #forcollectors
Lu Tenorio, Blinded, „Peonia Collection” / Vitruvius NFT Gallery / Link
Welder Wings, Dark Autumn, Collection: Dark Surreal / Vitruvius NFT Gallery / Link
Robert Mainka, Fade into you, Collection: Vision. / Vitruvius NFT Gallery / Link
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Tоuche. Solid arguments. Keep up the good w᧐rk.