Editorial is open for submissions: [email protected]

by Arseny Vesnin (Twitter: @designercollector), founder of Designcollector Network (2003) and curator of the Digital Decade initiatives, exhibitions and online collaborations. Interdisciplinary mediator guiding artists and communicating the future of art. Based in St.Petersburg, Russia.

Slava Semeniuta aka Thisset (https://www.behance.net/thisset ) – is one of my favourite conceptual neon artists and photographers recently started successful experiments with CG. He infuses his work with fluorescence, and the result is beautifully, mysteriously surreal. Slava’s creative work includes logos, posters, and album covers. He has been featured on Adobe Spotlight, Apple Music Covers and was a part of my exhibition Digital Decade – Cyberia I ran in London (https://digitaldecade.net/2017). I had a chance to sit and talk with Slava on his recent debut drop and about his career.

What was your path to doing what you’re doing now?

I consider myself a photography artist, not a photographer. When I was a kid I was fond of drawing. My mom was a school teacher of drawing classes so she often took me there, and I drew freely whatever I wanted. At the beginning I copied dinosaurs, insects, ocean fauna like sharks or octopuses from illustrated study books. When I started drawing firmly I tended to make it complex and was attached to imagination without a strict visual reference. I started to dream on outer space worlds, civilisations, creatures, cyborgs and bots. I was mesmerised by Japan animation and Western sci-fi movies that flud Russia in the 90s. I was always impressed by the bio-forms of insects and once I saw Godzilla’s team, I understand that I do like to draw characters that never existed, imaginary force of my mind. Following that, I still use photography to depict something that looks like cyberpunk or fantasy.

When I was 16, I started with photography, and thought I would travel the world to shoot animals and beautiful places as in National Geographic magazine. But started to shoot insects and friends. These led me to study Photoshop and I still remember my first work. It was a human figure levitating in a thin air half visible.

Did you have an “Aha!” moment when you knew that direction and photography was what you wanted to do?

The moment of setting my life goal was in childhood – to create something new and futuristic. But the moment when I started doing photography on a decent level happened in my twenties. I had a UV lamp and started shooting objects using it. I liked how the fruits, flowers and everything else looked in these lights and colours.  

At some point my friend Yulia Shur asked me to help with music video staging. She knew I am good at drawing and I was tasked to draw song texts on their bodies using fluorescent markers. During the break I put dots on her face with a brush and got an effect of a spray mist or star night. This was my starting experience with neon and UV-light photography. Since then I do it very often. 

You started to develop the Neon Series and played a lot with fluorescent colours and light. Was it a breaking point in your career? How does it influence your way of doing work now?

With the help of UV lamps and fluorescent markers I started to create cyber-neon body art. I asked friends and other fellow models to take a part in my experiments. I put on lines that looked like a synthetic shell coming out through their skin and body. At that moment I created my account Local Preacher on Behance (https://www.behance.net/thisset) and uploaded my works. This was about the time Apple, Adobe, Universal Music came to buy this.

Is it important to you to be a part of a creative community of people?

The audience feedback is very important for me as an artist. And not only from like-minded people and other artists but from strangers and admirers. As I dedicated the main part of my life to photography art it is important for me to be a part of the community and find new sources of inspiration, and to be the same for others, and to earn for living. That’s why I follow trends, communicate with followers and clients and run collaborations.

You’re already a successful and well established artist, what made you pursue NFT art as a medium?

At a glance I am interested in NFT because it opens “a matrix curtain” for me. I like to think there are parallel worlds that exist, and I am happy to be a part of one of it. Be a part of the cyber universe or metaverse with its own rules and values. Same time the NFT market gives a chance to earn money being on the lockdown or just staying at home. I have known about crypto art since then, but went deep after my fellow artists started talking about it on a higher frequency. That was just about one week to decide. Thanks to Nikita Replyanski, Aeforia, Maalavida and Arseny Vesnin (who invited me to his digital exhibition in 2017.

Editorial is open for submissions: [email protected]

Interview with Christopher Atkins

Michael Cina is a polymath. His accomplishments in art, design and typography have been celebrated around the world by leading brands, publications and galleries. Cina is a notable pioneer of web design and also an accomplished painter who has exhibited across the globe. He is the principal at Cina Associates, which focuses on custom branding/design/type. VSCO released a monograph of his art for Ghostly International. He recently won an Emmy and in 2020 he is nominated for a Grammy for design.

Christopher Atkins is an independent curator and writer. He was Curator of Exhibitions at the Minnesota Museum of American Art from 2015 – 2019, where he organized numerous group- and one-person exhibitions, including the nationally recognized Ken Gonzales-Day: Shadowlands. He organized a variety of site-specific installations, solo- and group exhibitions, and dozens of exhibition-related public programs. He was Coordinator of the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program at Mia from 2009-2015, organizing ambitious and experimental site-responsive projects and initiating various artist-in-residency programs. He holds M.Res & M.A. degrees in Visual Cultures from Goldsmiths College, University of London and B.A. History of Art from the College of Wooster.

Christopher Atkins: Michael Cina and I have each been orbiting the Minneapolis art scene for more than a dozen years; I’ve been curating exhibitions and site-specific installations at museums and galleries while he’s been exhibiting his paintings and designing album covers and books for artists and record labels. Michael and I met a few times over the years through mutual friends but, unfortunately, our professional paths never crossed. When I saw that he was connected with some of my favorite musicians, like Matthew Dear and Lusine, I really started to pay attention. I’ve always admired his work; the monochromatic and full-color paintings are beautiful abstractions that are full of expressive and restrained energy, his graphic design is so assured yet clear and his typefaces are spectacular explorations of language and communication. And it’s all really strong. 

The pandemic and social distancing have affected us all but it’s forced me to stay connected to family and maintain meaningful connections with friends and colleagues. It just feels good to talk to people after being isolated for so long so I reached out to Michael after I heard a recent episode of the Plans We Make podcast. It turns out we have a lot of mutual respect for each other’s work and a lot to talk about. What started out as a short Zoom call has turned into an exciting work-partnership that includes surveying the work he’s been making for the past 20 years. The following interview (edited for length and clarity) occurred during a few visits to Cina’s studio while we were reviewing his paintings and drawings. He’s coming off his first Grammy-nomination (more on that below) and his work is moving in some new directions, which includes posting NFTs on SuperRare, so it’s a great time to hear more about what he’s up to. 

Atkins: Tell me about the trajectory of your career. Where did you start and where are you now?

I took a less traditional route than most. In 1996 I started looking for jobs after dropping out of college. I had been going for a double major in Visual Communication and Fine art. In my spare time, I was designing and learning to code my first website. The internet was an amazing place for me because I could publish work (design, fonts, art, 3D, etc) without having to print anything and thousands of people would see it immediately. 

I landed a job at a non-profit but at night I was working on a lot of personal projects like Cinahaus, Test Pilot Collective and contributing to the emerging design scene. After a couple of years I had enough momentum to go freelance. My first few jobs were doing animation for the NBA and working on the MTV website in 1999. 

Art and design equally appealed to me so a lot of my work has a dual focus of form, images and text. I wasn’t concerned about following a specific style as much as creating my own “artful” design. Looking back, it was digital art. I felt like the work was extremely valuable but it had no place in the design or art world, until recently. The ironic thing is that it’s locked on my old server and I couldn’t even play it bc the tech is obsolete. Technology holds the power in the end. 

When 2000 hit I changed things up and I started to get more serious about my career. My TrueIsTrue website was where I experimented with form, time, animation, code, etc. Joshua Davis got me into Flash and I started running with a new wave of designers that were also making some really exciting creative personal design projects. I started up an agency based on personal work with a fellow designer called WeWorkForThem and eventually started up YouWorkForThem to sell my typefaces. We did forward thinking work and showed work all over the globe. 

After running those companies for a while, I changed pace and started my own design studio, Cina Associates in 2010. That has been a wonderful and wild ride as well. 

And now you’re getting some well-deserved international recognition for your work, not just from the fine art world but from the music and design community too.

I don’t focus too much on the wins, but the last few years have offered some great opportunities to have my work seen by larger audiences. I was just nominated for a Grammy for my Ghostly International box set design with Molly Smith. It was a big honor to go up against giant nominees; Wilco, Paul McCartney, Depeche Mode, Grateful Dead, especially working with an indie label. I also won an Emmy (Zero Days movie), had a book on my work for Ghostly published by VSCO, had a solo gallery show, shot a 45 minute video that traveled around the world’s galleries with Rafiq Bhatia, spoke at Adobe’s main conference, etc. Cina Associates has had a great last couple of years also with some great branding projects as well. 

You’re a mulit-media artist, graphic designer and typeface designer. You also have this deep connection to music. Tell us a little more about what you do and how does it all overlap? 

I am interested in everything. I have explored a lot of the arts; video, animation, photography, pottery, stone lithography, painting (drawing, watercolor, acrylic, oil, murals), theatre, music, poetry, writing… I now concentrate on branding, art, graphic design and typefaces. 

I don’t see any divisions between the arts, it’s all expression in some way or form. I love coming at a problem with new and fresh eyes. Not knowing what you are doing, truly exploring, is a fun ride for me. Sometimes it’s stressful but I love being challenged and seeing through new eyes. 

And that diversity of expression extends to the people you’ve worked with too, right? Tell us about some of the creative collaborations you’ve done with artists and musicians with both your art and design work? How do you approach these collaborations and create a response to another artist’s artwork? 

I love collaborating. My main collaborator would be Ghostly and so many of their musicians, like Matthew Dear, Shigeto, Tadd Mullinix, Lusine… I have done well over 150 covers and each collaborator is very different. My absolute favorite part of collaboration is when the person is truly open and wants to explore with me. I like to listen to the music and understand it, ask questions when we start; review the music, ideas, or whatever they bring to the table and then begin walking down that path together, exploring and building language and hopefully a world. 

Musician and composer, Rafiq Bhatia from Son Lux, has been a great collaborator. It feels like our worlds have entwined. We start with the ideas he composed his music around and then we expand that language visually. It’s a give and take process but one that gets refined in fire. A few years ago, I shot a 45 minute video of abstract art for him and he toured that work with galleries all over the world. The project was commissioned by Kate Nordstrom for Liquid Music/The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and premiered at the Walker Art Center.

The response to their work comes from understanding and practicing semiotics, the language of visuals. It’s important that I know how to speak in many different visual languages. Some of this comes from my curiosity but I always operated under the pretense that I should be able to work on a wide range of subject matter. I have spent my whole life developing this fluency and I understand it’s a massive undertaking. Sometimes I see myself almost as a medium to let other people express their ideas, but I also like to develop my own worlds. When I speak, I like to communicate abstractly. It’s a lot harder and time consuming to successfully realize your ideas. On top of that, I use non traditional instruments to paint with and I like to alter the paint I am using to perform uniquely. Lately I have been working with a larger scale and that has been challenging. 

I just did a big project for the mighty GMUNK that set the tone of what a physical body of work can look like in the NFT world. Right now I am helping Matthew Dear a bit with his show and working on branding. I am hoping to release some work I did with ZuluZuluu/AstralBlak w/ John Klukas and a Zola Jesus project with the heavyweight Timothy Saccenti on SuperRare.

Let’s hear your thoughts on the NFT, block chain and the future of the digital art marketplace. 

I am still figuring out some of my thoughts and ideas, it’s a new space, new energy. Years back, when I first heard about the blockchain, I knew it would revolutionize the arts. I love the idea of being able to catalog your work via this method. This will be a big breakthrough for some of the best minds and creators around and also revolutionize how people can make a living and sell work. We are at the very early stages but it gives a major advantage to digital artists which is wonderful. I am looking forward to seeing it evolve.

What’s  your interest in/connections to art history, music, posters and/or graphic arts. Who or what do you cite as creative influences?

When in college, I really enjoyed art history. I took every class that was offered and had a really brilliant teacher that pushed us hard and taught us to be inquisitive. Our tests would consist of being shown pieces of art we have never seen and we had to say who it was, when it was done, what style and write about the subject matter. It was very foundational for me. Whatever I am interested in, I like to dive deep and learn everything I can about that topic so learning about art through this lens was a perfect fit. That quest led me to collect books (art, design, architecture mainly) and eventually to start a bookstore. 

The list of influences is endless. I think artists like Paul Klee and Dieter Roth stand out in the art world because they spoke through a boundless vernacular, having no limits. I love Emil Ruder for consolidating a set of rules for design and Wolfgang Weingart turning them on their head. I love Andrei Tarkovsky and Orson Wells for being masterful and non-linear story tellers while also being visually breathtaking. I have a passion for Japanese design and art as well. There are thousands more people I could list.

Editorial is open for submissions: [email protected]

Andrea Chiampo is a London-based Italian Digital Artist and Concept Designer for the Entertainment Industry. His client list includes Disney – Industrial Light & Magic, 20^th Century Fox, Amblin Entertainment, MPC, The Mill and many more.

Although his work is mainly known for his distinct and never-before-seen creature design characterized by an excellent use of translucency, texturing, rendering and lighting, Andrea has lately aroused curiosity among the Digital Art community after the reveal of a new, unique and evocative style. 

What at first sight might be misunderstood as an antique and eerie lithography is instead the result of Andrea’s digital sculpting and 3D rendering.

“The difference between my typical creature work and this genre is dictated by the fact that the latter has definitely not been required nor influenced by industry demand. Being transported by pure artistic freedom has been my ticket to travel through the most unexplored corners of my subconscious.”

FUTURED PAST is a collection of oneiric illustrations that appear to be rich of symbolism, secrets and visions. The artist reveals: “With this series, I often experience I am melting with the piece of art I’m working on. Something coming from my subconscious takes the reins on me and the piece itself. Submerged by a succession of sensations, I almost stop seeing myself as the creator.”

Andrea was born and raised in Italy, where he has been surrounded by art since his early age. Composition, lighting and storytelling have been influenced by old masters. In fact, his family ran an antique’s business and he grew up among beautiful old prints, sculptures and art pieces. 

“We used to watch a lot of good movies but very little TV and my parents decided to keep me away from video games. Living a childhood filled with nature, drawings, music and art prevented me from being influenced by the mainstream alternative worlds that video games and sci-fi films have been distributing in the last few decades.”

“Back in 2019, when I began to experiment on this series, I felt something really unique. For the first time I was giving vent to my artistic sensitivity. Throughout the process, my subconscious has been playing with cords never touched before, composing new mysterious visual melodies, taking me to the limbo between things I would like to understand and things I would prefer not to know.”

By choice of the artist, the pieces don’t come with a detailed description. “There are secrets hidden in each of these pieces. I want each viewer’s personal Interpretation to become the ticket to their own journey.”

“I’ve secretly worked on this for a few months before revealing any hints of what was happening in order not to be influenced by external opinions. I was coming back to it only when I was feeling really inspired.”

QUOTES:

“This series of images is one of the most evocative bodies of work I have seen in a long time. It’s graphic and iconic, all wrapped in a visceral eerie feeling that will keep you dragged inside the piece and will make you stare at it longer and longer each time. This series elevates the 3D genre as a whole to new heights previously not seen in the space.” – Gavriil Klimov, Creative Director at NVIDIA

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“There is powerful emotional resonance in Andrea’s art, elevated by sleek, intelligent design that hits you on an instinctive level. It captures one’s imagination the same way great mysteries do. Beautiful & eerie. Alien & visceral.” – Seb McKinnon, Illustrator/Filmaker/Musician

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“A unique and personal work that takes 3D to a new dimension. Images with mystery and stories to tell. Definitely one of my favorites” – Nekro, Digital Alchemist

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“Andrea is one of my favorite artist, we can recognize his work instantly, always trying and experimenting new things and fresh ideas, keep developing his own worlds unique voice, a great example to follow for every artist”. – Paul Chadeisson, Digital Artist and Art Director

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“Andrea’s lithograph series is unlike anything from any other 3D artist I’ve ever seen.
Many have tried to mimic the surreal feel that he creates but fail. They are all 1 of a kind from a 1 of a kind artist.” – Richard Anderson, Flaptraps Art

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“When I first saw Andrea’s work I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. A beautiful and eerie marriage of craft and creativity, no one does it quite like him.” – Sean Sevestre, Artist

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“Andrea is both a technical mind and a dreamer. Since I met him many years ago his artistic efforts always impressed me as of being on the very overlap between technological frontier and traditional artistic sensibility. An artist dealing with our Zeitgeist.” – Lip Comarella, Art Director / Netflix Animation

Portions of a few images from the upcoming collection: 

For more of Andrea’s work please visit www.andreachiampo.com 

Editorial is open for submissions: [email protected]

 by John__ (@johnthompsoniv)

Nacho Frades is a Spanish artist from Madrid with decades of experience as a painter, animator, author, and full-time artist. He has completed his studies of Interior designer (IADE University), Atrium Academy (Mainly Charcoal), Madrid Fine Arts Circle (Círculo de Bellas Artes), Arts & Crafts Degree, Fine Arts Master (Cádiz University, UCA), Teacher of Computer Graphics, and Mastery with José Caballero, as well as Antonio López.

Nacho’s first digital formations began in 1987 with Deluxe Paint II—a program that ran on an AMSTRAD PC1512. Nacho credits the 16-color AMSTRAD as, “A great computer for that time.”

Nacho holds a Goya Prize from the Academy of Film and Television of Spain. Some of his finest works lie in private collections across the globe: the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Caribbean, Poland, and France, to name a few.

I took the time to interview Nacho via email to learn more about his journey as a digital artist and to hear what advice he’d give to aspiring artists now in the age of NFTs.

Here are my five questions with Nacho Frades.

Q: Hey Nacho! Thanks for taking the time.

My first question is, when did you know you were going to commit yourself to art full-time? What did that moment feel like?

Hi John!

In 2005, I worked for a Computer Animation Films Company. It was around this time I wanted to devote my life only to paint, especially in computers. I was in my kitchen and said to my wife, “I’m gonna be a painter!” Ever since that moment, I decided to commit myself to computer graphics. Back then, it was a very hard time for digital artists. There were limited ways to make a living from art—pure digital images were not an opportunity at all, and there were no NFTs—so I decided to do digital painting and print it on paper. I sold a lot of this kind of digital painting.

The moment itself was a crazy bet in myself because I had no idea how to do it! But very exciting. Looking back, I still don´t know what my wife thought 🙂

Q: Amazing!

You’re unlike other digital artists because you have decades of experience and multiple degrees. What led you to move into the world of NFTs in the first place?

NFTs are my natural medium, I think. I was very tired of searching for Art on Instagram, on websites, at brick-and-mortar galleries. I thought traditional Art was dying—it looked all the same. One day, some time ago, I saw on Instagram a profile with the words “Cryptoart Collector” and started to investigate. It felt like I was seeing colors for the first time!

The creativity was in that strange world called “Cryptoart” I found I was not alone! So I investigated further, spent a lot of money in testing, and applied to SuperRare. After 4 weeks of anxiety, I started to mint, it was super exciting 🙂

I think Cryptoart is the art of today, I have absolutely no doubts. And the community is very kind, it has it all. I feel at home, my words “I’m going to be a painter” now make sense in a Cryptoart environment.

Q: What inspires you when creating digital art? Is there a genre of music or a specific environment that gets you motivated?

Every kind of music inspires me, but I enjoy the latest creations of people like Jack Stauber, Still Woozy, Mac Demarco. I love all genres of music: Classical, Funk, Jazz, etc… I play the electric bass and I listen to music all day—including while I work.

Q: What are some digital art pieces you’re most proud of? Why?

Any of them, really. I put all my soul in every image. I wait until I get inspired and start to work with sincerity on it.

I see each of them as a short period of my life.

There are artworks that for some reason are more inspired than others, but I put the same effort into all of them. If I had to choose one I might choose “Pigo” a piece that’s in the permanent collection of the MoCDA (Museum of Contemporary Digital Art).

Q: If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring digital artists out there, what would it be?

Work hard, and never give up. Never follow the market, be patient, be hopeful, and enjoy every day of the path.

I think all artists have talent, the secret is to work that talent. It requires hours of hard work to discover your true potential.

If you want to learn more about Nacho, you can visit his site here: https://nachofrades.art

And check out his profile on SuperRare! @Nacho_frades

Editorial is open for submissions: [email protected]

Jen Stark is highly regarded as a chromatic powerhouse, whose meditative works flourish in the warm, liminal space between spirituality and psychedelia. She has made international waves in the art scene for over a decade. Despite having work in the permanent collections of some of the world’s most renowned museums, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and MOCA Miami, the LA based artist says the emerging metaverse is the space she’s most excited about, “in all my years being involved in the traditional art world, I’ve never felt so supported and energized about creating artwork as I do now.” On March 26th, she broke records with her entrance to the NFT universe. 

This week, Jen will debut her SuperRare genesis piece, “Mandala”, a mesmerizing, looped animation focused on a myriad of colorful waves and vibrational phases. The work, which will go live for a 24 hour auction on Wednesday April 14th 12pm pst, is a collaborative effort between Jen Stark and legendary artist David Lewandowski, with an original score by Charlie Scovill.