The Gateway, NFT Now x Christie’s
Curated by 33NFT during Art Basel Miami Beach
Miami Beach, USA
The Gateway was an NFT exhibition organised by the media platform nft now together with Christie's during Art Basel Miami Beach. For its public day, a financial office building in downtown Miami, whose location was revealed only to guests who requested an invitation, became a gallery of about 23,000 square feet. The route was conceived as an immersive maze that began in a corporate lobby and continued by elevator to floors overlooking the harbour. Digital works were shown on large screens next to physical pieces, with musicians and live performances, and many of the works were offered for sale.
The programme relied on several guest curators: Ronnie K. Pirovino, the platforms SuperRare and BlockParty, and the collectors SeedPhrase and 33NFT, who showed works from their own collections. Federico Clapis appeared in the list of featured artists, presented within the selection curated by 33NFT, alongside names such as Krista Kim, Matt Kane, Helena Sarin, Skygolpe, Fabio Giampietro and FVCKRENDER.
For Clapis, the show meant being part of an early event in which a major auction house openly embraced crypto art, within the setting of Miami's art week. It placed his digital practice, which grew out of sculpture and video art, in the same rooms as many of the artists who shaped the first NFT scene, and in front of an audience drawn from both the traditional art market and the crypto community.