NFT’s, or non-fungible tokens, have been dominating headlines lately, with artists using the medium as a way to share their creations with an increasingly digital audience. Using Ethereum’s blockchain technology, NFT’s are shaking up the art world by allowing relatively unknown artists to directly reach an eager audience, ready to invest in crypto-art.
One such artist is 18-year old Victor from Las Vegas, perhaps better known by his online alias, Fewocious, or simply, Fewo. From tragic beginnings to six-figure sums, this is the story of the likable surrealists’ rise to NFT fame.
Early Days
Sadly, the story begins with an abusive father and a household that Fewocious was keen to escape. “It was really bad. I had to leave,” he claims. Fortunately, Fewocious lives up to his name. After getting in touch with social services and being pinballed around different homes at the age of twelve, he eventually found his way to staying with his grandparents.
Though safely living with his grandparents, Fewocious found middle school difficult, with art being a haven when things got tough: “I didn’t have a phone…or play games like other lonely kids. So to not look awkward…I would draw. Every day. In class, when I didn’t have a partner, I would draw.”
Despite never considering art a viable career choice, Victor created a Twitter account under the name “Fewocious” and tentatively began sharing his surrealist work with the world. Happy to just get a few likes, Fewocious found himself amazed that people appreciated his art, “15 likes blew my mind,” he says.
It wasn’t long before he realized other people were making a living off of art, pursuing what they love. So, wasting no time, he created a website and started doing $5 commissions, with one painting eventually selling for $95 in March 2020. “I was over the moon,” claims Fewocious, “$95 is a lot of money.”
Entering Crypto Space
Over the next few months, Fewocious carefully saved the dollars earned and bought himself an iPad to level up his digital art. Before this, he relied on an old laptop of his grandfathers that couldn’t quite run Photoshop and would crash if you so much as looked at it the wrong way.
Equipped with the new tablet and a desire to make a life of his own, Fewocious then began furiously creating art. “There was a shift in my personality…I drove myself a little bit crazy trying to draw as fast as I could.”
While busy developing a small Twitter following and honing his digital art skills, Fewocious was unaware that his life was about to change in ways even he couldn’t imagine.
It started when the customer of the $95 painting got in touch with Fewo out of the blue, months after the purchase. The buyer was a lover of all things crypto and began explaining the world of blockchain and NFTs to him.
Fewocious claims initially he believed NFTs to be some kind of scam, not believing digital art was selling for such large amounts of money. Nevertheless, Fewocious was determined to strike out on his own. It didn’t take long, therefore, for the young artist to grasp the potential for the new medium and decide to start selling through the SuperRare platform.
Becoming an NFT Artist
With some advice and tutoring from the community, Fewo began minting his own NFTs. His very first is enigmatically named ‘She Makes Me Feel Alive’ and is described by Fewo as “What it’s like to fall in love for the first time.” While a tried and true subject matter, the abstract piece’s depth intrigued the community and eventually sold for 10 ETH in September 2020, something in the region of $6000 at the time.
From here, things snowballed.
In the following November, Fewo landed his first 5-figure sale with a $25,000 transaction for his NFT ‘Moment i Fell in Love’, this time, on the more exclusive Nifty Gateway platform. And more success followed, with a 35 ETH ($20,000) sale for ‘The Modern Prometheus,’ a work that demonstrates the artist’s increased technical ability.
Gaining Recognition
After making waves in the crypt-art scene, Fewo found himself asked to commission an artwork for Anthony Pompliano and Jason Williams, the founders of the crypto hedge fund Morgan Creek Digital. Entitled ‘NYC Skyline,’ the confident and vibrant artwork went to auction, bringing in $21,350 on Nifty Gateway, who claimed it was the first third-party commissioned auction piece on their platform.
With some big-ticket prices and some media attention, Fewo found himself at the forefront of the NFT scene, with people and companies desperate to collaborate with him.
Working with the virtual sneaker company RTFKT Studios, Ferocious collaborated with the brand to create a series of virtual footwear NFTs that can also be used to claim a physical pair. Within 7 minutes, the sneakers completely sold out and generated over $3.1 million in sales. “We wanted to show people the future,” claims RTFKT’s founders, Benoit Pagotto, Zaptio, and ClegFX, “…this collab is the result of a perfect alignment of all the culture we love…this is the start of a new revolution.”
Now and Where Next
With growing recognition as one of the leading NFT artists out there, Fewo’s options are now limitless. Now able to live the life of a true creative, it may be Fewocious’ most exciting work is still yet to come.
But that’s not to say the wonder-kid of crypto-art has not been busy, having just earned a staggering $370,000 with a Nifty Gateway drop on his birthday, January 1st.
And over on SuperRare, the surrealist has created perhaps his most beautiful piece yet, ‘Overthinking Again,’ in which we see Fewo dealing with the pressures of media attention, expectations, and false promises. The sensitive work clearly resonated with fans, selling for a staggering 195 ETH ($345,150) earlier in the year.
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Currently, the crypto-artist’s website claims he’s working on a clothing drop and – curiously – “a few other things.” Whatever this ends up being, it’s sure to be something that continues to define the medium of NFTs.
