NFT artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, is an American graphic designer. Winkelmann, who gained fame with his NFT works, has exhibited his works in concerts of famous people such as Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj and Childish Gambino before he became so well known.
Who is Beeple?
Beeple is one of the well-known NFT artists. Beeple, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann, is a key figure in the adoption of NFTs. His fame does not come from a long career in traditional art galleries or his expertise towards NFTs. His entry into NFTs can be described as an experiment that was decided abruptly, with more and more people advising him to try a new way to showcase his art. Today, Beeple has over 2 million Instagram followers and is ranked among the three most valuable living artists.
Beeple’s NFTs often contain references to politicians, popular culture icons, and the like, to satirize current world events and interpret modern politics and culture. Interestingly, moving art has found a way to engage the traditional art industry while providing a visual way of expressing political and social issues with NFTs.
How Beeple Became Famous
Winkelmann started selling NFT in 2020. His early work took the art and technology world by surprise, with digital art sales reaching tens of thousands of dollars. One of the first NFT parts Beeple sold was called “Crossroad”. This work is designed to change based on the outcome of the November 2020 US presidential election. This work of art, registered on the blockchain, was sold for 66,666.66 USD and then changed hands again for 6.7 million USD.
A major milestone for Winkelmann is becoming the first major auction house to sell an all-digital NFT artwork, with a well-known auction house called Christie’s announcing that it will put Beeple’s NFT artwork up for auction. In addition, Christie’s accepted ETH as a payment method for the first time on this sale.
This artwork is called “Everydays–The First 5000 Days” and has been sold for over $69 million USD. The work looks like a collection of colored pixels, but actually includes 5,000 images Beeple has created every day for 13 years.
Winkelmann’s prominence may have been due to his timing. It entered the field at a time when NFTs were gaining momentum. Another systemic reason could be major socioeconomic changes such as the COVID-19 pandemic in the world. As a result, during this period, people started to spend more time on their digital devices, work from home and become more interested in new digital applications.
Beeple’s Everydays NFT sale took place during the bullish cycle of NFTs. However, like all popular cycles, the wave of NFT craze later subsided.
