XCOPY (artist)
XCOPY is an anonymous, London-based[1] digital artist active in the field of NFT art.[2] He creates digital glitched artworks usually concerning death, dystopia and apathy through flashing imagery and distorted loops, often with nods to the cryptocurrency community. Some of his most notable works are released on a CC0 license[3] and he is among the highest selling NFT artists.[4] Three of his works are among the top 20 most expensive NFT sales of all time.[5] Though academic work in the emerging field of crypto-art is limited, in one study Xcopy's work was chosen as some of the most 'prestigious' crypto-art by curators and fellow artists on crypto art gallery SuperRare.[6]
XCOPY | |
---|---|
Other names | XCOPYART (Twitter handle) |
Occupation | Digital artist |
Years active | 2010–present |
Notable work | Right-Click and Save As Guy, All Time High in the City, Max Pain |
Website | https://xcopy.art |
NFTs
XCOPY was one of the earliest digital artists to create NFTs associated with his artworks.[7] His artworks were first associated with NFTs in 2018 via platforms including SuperRare.[7]
Works
Tumblr (2010-2023)
![](../I/First_Xcopy_Tumblr_Work.gif)
Xcopy first emerged as an artist on the social media platform Tumblr in August 2010. He would subsequently post more than a thousand individual works there, uploading every month (other than August 2014[8]) for more than a decade.[9] The constraints of file sizes able to be uploaded to the platform are said to have influenced his style. It is here Xcopy first gained a following with the rise of GIF[10] and meme culture.[11]
Right-Click and Save As Guy
![Right-Click and Save as Guy digital artwork](../I/Right-Click_and_Save_as_Guy.gif)
Right-Click and Save As Guy is one of XCOPY's most famous artworks.[1] The title refers to the common criticism of NFT artworks that anybody can save a copy from the web by right-clicking the image.[12]
The NFT associated with the piece last sold for approximately $7,000,000[1] on 9 December 2021, making it one of the highest selling NFTs.[4]
Other
Technique and style
Xcopy's work is hand drawn directly in Photoshop. It references GIF, Meme and Internet culture.[19]
On August 1, 2022, Xcopy released his work under a Creative Commons CC-zero licence,[20] relinquishing copyrights to his works which were not collaborations or derivative content, and dedicating those rights to the public domain. CC0 licensing has been used to increased artwork visibility and usage.[21]
Anonymity
Xcopy remains anonymous,[1] and rarely gives interviews, though is active on social media.[22] The combination of anonymity and relinquishment of copyright is in distinction to some other anonymous artists such as Banksy who actively defend copyright.[23] This development has caused some controversy in the Creative Commons community.[24]
Art shows and features
- "Natively Digital" at Sotheby's in New York, 2021[25]
- Lugano NFT Week exhibition at Villa Ciani in Lugano, 2021[26]
- "CryptOGs": The Pioneers of NFT Art" at Bonhams, 2021[27]
- DART2121 exhibition at Museo della Permanente in Milan, 2021[28]
- 'Urban Pixels" exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Digital Art in London, 2022[29]
- Milano Art Week 2022 exhibition in Milan, 2022[30]
- "Glitch: Beyond Binary" at Sotheby's in New York, 2023[31]
- "W1 Curates X Canary Labs" exhibition in London, 2023[32]
- "Beyond the screen" exhibition at HOFA Gallery in London, 2023[33]
- "NFT, Art and History(s)" exhibition at NFT Factory in Paris, 2023 [34]
See also
References
- "PAK to XCopy: 10 NFT artists from across the world you need to know". Yahoo News. 2022-10-26. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
- "XCOPY Fortune NFTy 50 Fortune". Fortune.
- Hayward, Decrypt / Andrew (2022-08-04). "Why Ethereum NFT Creators Are Giving Away Commercial Rights—To Everyone". Decrypt. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
- "The 10 Most Expensive NFT Artworks of 2021, From Beeple's $69 Million 'Everydays' to XCOPY's $3.8 Million Portrait of 'Some Asshole'". artnet.com.
- Thomas, Langston (16 June 2023). "The 20 Most Expensive NFT Sales of All Time". NFT Now.
- Franceschet, Massimo (2020-08-16). "Art for Space". Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage. 13 (3): 24:1–24:9. doi:10.1145/3402443. ISSN 1556-4673.
- "XCOPY on SuperRare". superrare.com.
- "XCOPY: Archive". CRYPTO X ART.
- "Sotheby's Metaverse". metaverse.sothebys.com. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
- Hillman, Serena; Procyk, Jason; Neustaedter, Carman (2014-02-15). "Tumblr fandoms, community & culture". Proceedings of the companion publication of the 17th ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work & social computing. CSCW Companion '14. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery: 285–288. doi:10.1145/2556420.2557634. ISBN 978-1-4503-2541-7.
- Shifman, Limor (2014). Memes in digital culture. MIT press essential knowledge. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-52543-5.
- Gault, Matthew (November 3, 2021). "What the Hell Is 'Right-Clicker Mentality'?". Vice. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- Linares, Maria Gracia Santillana. "Crypto Punk Mania: The Top 10 NFT Collections Of 2022". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
- "XCOPY's 'All Time High in the City' NFT Hits the $6M Mark". 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
- "The 11 Most Expensive NFTs Sold in 2021 You Need to Know About". Yahoo Finance. 2022-02-03. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
- Whiddington, Richard (2023-02-24). "So-Called 'Open Editions' Are Suddenly Reigniting the Wintry NFT Market. Here's Why They've Become So Popular With Collectors". Artnet News. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
- https://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/pak-xcopy-10-nft-artists-054616751.html
- Cowley, Mark (2022-05-20). "The Most Expensive NFTs Ever Purchased". SlashGear. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
- Williams, Rebecca (2018-06-15). "Tumblr's GIF culture and the infinite image: Lone fandom, ruptures, and working through on a microblogging platform". Transformative Works and Cultures. 27. doi:10.3983/twc.2018.1153. ISSN 1941-2258.
- https://xcopy.art/creative-commons
- "Museums in the Digital Age: Opening up at Birmingham Museums Trust". Europeana PRO. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
- Gioia, Ted (2016-07-16). "Banksy, Daft Punk, Elena Ferrante: The New Cult of the Anonymous Artist". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
- Mitman, Tyson (2023-10-11). "Unmasking Banksy – the street artist is not one man but a whole brand of people". The Conversation. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
- "Wait, Are NFTs the New Creative Commons?". Gizmodo. 2021-12-20. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
- Kinsella, Eileen (2021-06-10). "Sotheby's 'Natively Digital' NFT Sale Lands at $17.1 Million, With More Than Half the Total Racked Up in the Final Minutes". Artnet News. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
- "Lugano NFT Week: Non-Fungible Tangible". Assodigitale.it (in Italian). 12 November 2021.
- "Bonhams x SuperRare present: CryptOGs: The Pioneers of NFT Art". FAD Magazine. 2021-06-18. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
- "Al Museo della Permanente di Milano "2121", la più grande mostra sulla Crypto Art". Artribune.com (in Italian). 24 November 2021.
- "Urban Pixels". MoCDA Museum of Contemporary Digital Art. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
- "Art Innovation Gallery presenta NFT. Digital Art Exhibition". ilgiornaleditalia.it (in Italian).
- "Glitch: Beyond Binary". Sotheby's. 26 April 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
- "Canary Labs Curated By Jake Elies". W1 CURATES. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
- "XCOPY & Other Top Artists Feature in HOFA NFT and AI Exhibition". 2023-04-29. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
- "Les expositions de la NFT Factory". NFT Factory (in French). Retrieved 2023-10-18.