The global online art platform Artue (Habitus Associates) presents ThankYouX’s first showcase in Korea ThankYouX – Odyssey at Shinsegae’s BOONTHESHOP Cheongdam flagship store from September 7 to October 8, 2023. ThankYouX, who began his artistic journey in street art, has emerged as one of the most in-demand contemporary leaders of Web 3.0 art today. Throughout his artistic exploration, he has focused on the process of creating changes through the merging of traditional art and digital elements. On view at the upcoming showcase in Seoul will be a total of nine artworks filling the entire fourth floor of the exhibition space, including seven new works in his signature abstract style, as well as My Escape (2023), a video based oeuvre that interweaves digital art and sound; and Come Find Me (2022) which combines digital and physical mediums.
ThankYouX, who was working as a graphic designer by day, set on the artist’s path after starting a street art movement that paid homage to Andy Warhol in 2009. He tagged the stencils of Andy Warhol that he had created then sprayed on the streets of Los Angeles with “ThankYouX,” which was a combination of the words “Thank You” in tribute to the great pop icon and “X” to convey the anonymity of street art. ThankYouX moved from image based street art to the US gallery scene where he crossed over into fine art with the exploration of geometric patterns and movement based abstract works.
ThankYouX’s ultimate goal is to challenge the conventions of the traditional art world through incorporating blockchain based technology into his practice. In an age where one can no longer turn a blind eye to the countless ways and conditions for engaging in images, ThankYouX actively seeks to create breakthrough artistic experiences that close the gap between traditional art and digital media. The artist’s trajectory has been filled with such exciting projects as his three-part NFT collection Sound of Color released in 2021 in collaboration with the Oscar-winning Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer. The international attention that ThankYouX received once again with his solo project State of the Art in 2022 solidified his ability to seamlessly combine digital and physical elements in a way that proves the use case for art on the blockchain.
In State of the Art, ThankYouX reimagined the use of blockchain technology as a creative medium rather than just a simple tool for distribution. The collection consisted of four large-scale paintings broken up into 400 individual tiles each, creating 1,600 unique digital artworks paired with their physical counterpart. Upon mint, participants randomly received a singular digital tile corresponding with a section of one of the four paintings. Later, collectors were able to claim the identical physical artwork and also had the opportunity to buy the surrounding tiles in the secondary market to expand the size of their work. By offering a multifold approach to experiencing the traditional canvas-based painting through digital technology, ThankYouX helped the lay public intuitively grasp the NFT project’s basic structure. The NFTs that were transferred immediately upon purchase of the artwork were at once a sort of a certificate of authentication and one more way to appreciate the artwork, and the public’s response to the project far surpassed initial expectations. Artue is thrilled to welcome the artist of such groundbreaking work for his very first showcase of work in Korea, ThankYouX – Odyssey. This showcase is sponsored by Shinsegae Group, and blockchain-specialized investment firm Hashed.
About Artue
Artue (Habitus Associates) is a tech startup founded with the aim of ushering in the digital transformation of the art industry. Applying digital twins and AI to the traditional realm of art appreciation and collecting, Artue seeks to establish a novel and dynamic way to engage in and collect art. We are excited to organize the Seoul show with ThankYouX as we share his artistic vision to expand the experience of the art community through blockchain technology. We hope that the experimental spirit and singular aesthetic that inform his upcoming show will serve as a refreshing landmark for many art lovers from both home and abroad.
Contact Information
Ines On Sim
Communications Manager
ines@artue.io
+82-10-6298-5999
Related Files
(attachment) About the Artist _ ThankYouX.docx
https://cdn.newswire.com/files/x/88/89/a5df4883666eab26da0e81c61059.docx