An NFT project may perhaps offer a swarm of perks, utilities, and future promises but the thing that plays the major role in pulling enthusiasts over is done by the art. As they say first impression is the last impression, so the first glance that the people get of an NFT project is the art. If the art is somewhat boring or not good or pallid the audience will get filled with contempt. The art of the project is its condescending factor. Think of it as the insignia of the project. Furthermore for the art to be asserting and magnificent the artist behind it needs to be skillful, talented, and knowledgeable. Artists are the backbone of art-focused NFT projects. There are a lot of artists that have proven to be on a much higher level than the others managing to leave persistent effects and of course, have earned by leaps and bounds. This article features the top artists in 2022.
1. Pak
Just as we can expect from most of the top NFT artists Pak remains anonymous. The artist also goes by the names Murat Pak and The Nothing. Pak has done a very good job with remaining anonymous as there is no man alive who knows about Pak. Is the artist a male or female or perhaps a team? Is Pak even the name or is it just a pseudonym? No one knows. The art style of Pak goes around simple geometric forms that are programmatically generated.
Pak has also chosen a black annulus on a white background as a personal photo. The most intimidating thing about this artist is that the artist’s NFT collection known as “the Merge” culminated $91.8 million on Nifty Gateway.
It gained the status of the highest sale by an artist in existence. The collection is probably the strangest NFT collection that there is. Prior to this Pak has launched several NFT collections such as Cloud Moment Dark, X, and more. Well, it doesn’t seem as though the artist doesn’t want to reveal their identity and wishes on remaining a mystery. Although no one knows about Pak, it can be said that Pak has left the world shocked.
2. Beeple
Beeple the artist everyone is aware of. Beeple alias Mark Winklemann left everyone stunned with his “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” as it sold for an insane price of $69 million on Christie’s auction.
This artwork exists as the combination of Beeple’s everyday work of 13 and a half years. The artwork gives away a pleasing look and all the everyday artwork is combined in an unsynchronized way. This was enough to make Beeple one of the most prominent and talked about artists in the NFT sphere. Not just this his “Crossroad” NFT was also sold for $66 thousand only to be sold again for $6.7 million.
At the present time, he is again working with Christies on the artwork known as “Human”. The “Human” is an astronaut who appears to be wandering off to different kinds of terrains. Although despite all his success Beeple has remarked NFTs as a bubble about to burst.
3. XCOPY
Just like Pak, XCOPY also remains a mystery as an artist. The only thing the masses know about this artist is that he is London-based. He too is one of the most influential artists and comes among the top tiers in the case of sales. The style that he uses in his artworks is very much unique and people can easily point out that this is XCOPY’s work.
The artist has himself described his artwork as “explores death, dystopia, and apathy through distorted visual loops.” That is a very intimidating statement about someone’s artwork. Dark things apart, his art mostly contains cartoony illustrations mostly including skulls, fire, hallucinatory themes.
XCOPY’s comfort zone seems to be bright colors and hallucinatory designs. In terms of sales, XCOPY doesn’t fall back. His artwork “A Coin for the Ferryman” sold for a whopping $6 million on SuperRare, Cozomo de’ Medici bought his “Some Asshole” for $3.86 million.
4. Mad Dog Jones
Michah Dowbak with his pseudonym Mad Dog Jones is one of the NFT artists that has managed to take the world by storm. He is a Canadian artist residing in Thunder Bay, Ontario. His most notable sale is his “REPLICATOR” which sold for an unbelievable price of $4.4 million.
His style of artwork centers around an aesthetically pleasing technological theme giving off cyberpunk vibes. His artworks are very impressive and soothing for the eye to look at. The colors he uses are mostly neon and bright colors. His collection of NFT artwork “Crash + Burn” brought him into the spotlight. He is a headliner of the first major NFT art exhibition at the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing.
5. Nyla Hayes
Who says young people don’t have the potential to impact the world with their talents. By young, we mean very young. Nyla Hayes is a 13-year-old girl who with her art collection has managed to make millions! She began drawing at the age of 4 and got the impetus of digital arts at the age of nine when she got a cellphone and found immense success at 12.
Having been introduced to NFTs by her uncle she immediately looked up how to make them and sell them. Her NFT collection goes by the name “Long Neckie” from which she made around $3.4 million. “Long Neckie” features women with long necks with various backgrounds and garlands in their heads.
She also got the opportunity to express her talents for Time Magazine and also got the designation of “Time’s Artists in Residence”. She is also on the list of artists of VeeCon. Apart from being an artist, she is an inspiration for artists all around the world.
6. FEWOCiOUS
Victor Langlois aka FEWOCiOUS has managed to make an everlasting effect in the NFT space. At just 17 years old he has earned a crazy amount of $18 million with NFTs and his artwork collection “The Everlasting Beautiful” saw sales of $550 thousand. He is also the youngest artist that was promoted by Christies. There was held an online auction by the name “Hello, I’m Victor (FEWOCiOUS) and This Is My Life”.
The auction included five digital and physical paintings. The artwork portrays the stories of Victor and the difficulties he faced while coming out as trans. He has moved to Seattle after he has earned enough to live by himself. He is surely an inspiration for other trans people as he also found validation by observing other successful trans people.
7. Isaac Wright
Issac Wright is the fearless one on this list. After taking his leave from the military he fell into depression and PTSD. Gladly he found his utopia on the highest points of places where he could reach wearing his Vans. He exclaims that upon climbing to high places he found himself and what he wants to do. Every time he climbed the pinnacle of several structures around NYC he took a photograph.
Although he fell into the hands of the police when he was coming down the Great American Tower in Cincinnati. His utopian activity of climbing eventually came to an end. After that, he got into the world of NFTs and started selling his photographs as NFTs. His collection “Where My Vans Go” found fame early on and became one of the most popular NFT collections. One of his photographs is has reached the value of 7 digits to be precise $1.6 million. He hopes that someday artists will get the freedom that they need and world-changing arts will start emerging.
8. Shay the Surrealist
Here is an artist with the art style defined in her pseudonym. The artist’s name is Shaylin Wallace and she hails from Wilmington Delaware. As mentioned before her art form focuses on surrealism and her journey as a digital artist started in 2014. At the age of 22, she became a force to be reckoned with in the NFT space.
She has a knack for handling adobe photoshop and her NFT artworks also comprise such photoshops. She is an expert in making something fascinating and surrealistic from stock photos by photoshop. Her work includes women adorned with flowers, sunsets, and several other fascinating images. Her work was also featured at Ocean Decade Exhibition which was held at UNESCO’s headquarters. She has also worked with adobe, Netflix, and many more. She encourages artists to create art for themselves rather than trying to appeal to the masses.
9. Leopoldo D’Angelo
Leopoldo D’Angelo or aka Danguiz is a 26-year-old artist from Italy. He found his originality from Synthwave and Cyberpunk art. He has interests in dystopian themes and retro-futuristic scenarios.
His popularity comes head to head with the likes of Pak and Beeple. His artwork comprises illustrations similar to his interests, dystopian and futuristic themes accompanied by neon lights. By far he has earned about $5 million by selling his artworks as NFTs and is one of the best-selling artists in the NFT space.
He has worked for adobe and Maserati. He has excited the world by revealing that he has big plans for the year 2022. He has also said that Beeple is one of his favorite artists.
10. Cath Simard
Cath Simard is a digital artist and shows her talent as a photographer as well. She is from Canada and has a very unique style of art and photography. More of a landscape photographer her collection consists of immaculate work which will instantly captivate the onlookers. Her artworks as NFTs sell for really huge prices such as $300,000. As with any artist, she puts a lot of effort into her artwork and pictures. Her pictures are so good and feature such beautiful landscapes that it becomes an instant rare piece of work. She easily comes among the top on the top NFT artists.
Artistry is not something easy to do and takes years to achieve. The artists discussed today have managed to secure a prominent position for themselves in the NFT space. All this is because of their hard work and endurance. They have sold their work for millions and they are not in just for the money. It is their passion that they are following and serve as an inspiration to thousands of hidden talents out in the world.
