The secret behind the screen: what does Beeple's first museum solo reveal about the future of digital art?

Recently, US digital artist Mike Winkelmann, more widely known as Beeple, opened his first museum solo exhibition – in Nanjing, China, no less, a city with which he has no particular affiliation. Backed by big names and budget from Deji Art Museum in China, Beeple's retrospective features digital art, kinetic sculptures ... and paintings?

Some may remember Beeple from the US$69 million sale of his digital series, Everydays: The First 5000 Days, purchased as a non-fungible token (NFT) in 2021. That sale launched his work into being the third most expensive from a living artist at the time and sent shock waves across art insiders and the public alike. Since then, galleries, art institutions, academics and curators have picked up on the hype, adding exhibition after exhibition to Beeple’s official art world CV, including M+ Hong Kong and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Alice in Beepleverse

Beeple: Tales from a Synthetic Future is undeniably dazzling as an exhibition – with a floor-to-ceiling scrolling display of works from the Everydays series (2007-ongoing) and high-tech kinetic sculptures with dystopian-cities and humanoids. The show is the perfect addition to Deji Art Museum, housed in one of Nanjing’s largest luxury shopping malls targeted at a youthful demographic who are quick to splurge on trends. Inside the exhibition, everywhere you turn heralds a new era of artistic creation.

Here, technology is a tool to realise human ambition, and well-established curators talk about the ‘synthetic/natural binary’, ‘living artworks’, and ‘social sculptures’. But look … paintings! In a show dedicated to the globally renowned pioneer of digital art, these gold-framed, large-scale replicas of their digital prototype are contextualised in the exhibition as offering viewers an alternative access point for engagement, one that encourages more observation and reflection than looking at them in their natural habitat, i.e. on a screen.

The Global Context of Digital Art

Prior to catching the attention of the ‘traditional’ art world, Beeple already boasted a solid profile in graphic design, working with big player clients such as Louis Vuitton, Samsung, Eminem and Nike. Within the digital art community, Beeple’s popularity nears idolisation, in part due to his generosity in releasing a large proportion of his video and design work free of charge under Creative Commons, open for both commercial and non-commercial use by other creatives.

Beyond China, New York City is renowned for its vibrant art scene, and the year 2023 promises to showcase some of the most groundbreaking digital artworks yet. From immersive installations to interactive exhibits, the city offers an array of galleries dedicated to showcasing and celebrating the world of digital art.

Leading Digital Art Galleries in NYC

• The NFT Gallery: Founded by Lynn Rosenberger, Andrin Pfister, and Lilien Hornung-Mary, it is an accessible space for digital and NFT art for both collectors and creators.
• Bitforms Gallery: Founded in 2001 to support and advocate for the collection of ephemeral, time-based, and digital artworks.
• Superchief Gallery: An independent artist-run gallery that established itself as the world's first physical NFT Gallery.

Comparison of NYC Digital Art Institutions

Gallery Name	Location	Key Focus
The NFT Gallery	88 Clinton St, New York	Accessible space for digital and NFT art; educational resources.
Bitforms Gallery	131 Allen St, New York	Ephemeral, time-based, and digital artworks since 2001.
Superchief Gallery	185 Greenwich St, New York	World's first physical NFT Gallery; multidisciplinary platform.

Whether you’re a digital art enthusiast planning a trip to the Big Apple, or a life-long New Yorker curious to explore the digital art scene in the city, these locations represent the cutting-edge of digital art in 2023. These institutions support media art from its history through current developments via its programming while offering an incisive perspective on the fields of digital art.