


Featured Artists:
Alida Sun, Alotta Money, Artonomous, Bronwyn Lundberg, Beeple, Tiger Cai, Chen Baoyang, Celyn Bricker, Da Bei Universe, deadmau5 and Mad Dog Jones, Ellwood, Fewocious, Hipworth, CryptoZR (Liu Jiaying), Liu Fang, Maalavidaa, Marble Mannequin, Mario Klingemann, mbsjq, Pak, Refik Anadol, Reva, Robbie Barrat, Robert Alice, Sun Bohan, Suryanto, Sun Yitian, Wu Jian’an, Wang Weisi.
“First Supper” Creators:
Alotta Money, Blackboxdotart, Coldie, Connie Digital, Hackatao, Josie Bellini, Matt Kane, Mlibty, Rutger van der Tas, Shortcut, TwistedVacancy, VansDesign, and XCOPY.
BCA & KUSAMA Network Global Digital Art Competition Top 6:
Chen Zheng (Rockethands), Jacopo De Giuseppe, Zhang Ziyu, Huihuan (Zhang Huairu × Xiao Ning × Liu Dixian), Zhou Yinglin, NIKO EDWARDS.
Exhibition on view:
Mar.26-Apr. 4, 2021 Beijing UCCA
Apr.9-11, 2021 Shanghai Jinghua Art
Click for more Details of Sponsors and Collaborators
Curator: Bohan Sun
Executive Curator: Zhiheng Ashely Zhang
Producers: Sun Bohan, Qinwen
Co-Organizers: Canary Network, Bitmain, DFG, Winkrypto
Special Advisor: Liu Gang
Art Consultant: Xiao Ge
Special Thanks To: Jehan Chu, Wang Lumin, Sun Ming, Ge Yuesheng
Exhibition Coordinator: Lou Ziwei
Lighting Design: NIKO EDWARDS
Co-Organizers: KUSAMA Network, Bitmain, DFG, Winkrypto
Supporting Organizations: Web3 Foundation, Zonff Partners, PolkaWorld, AndArt, Realy
Partners: Absolut Vodka, Mask Network, Unique Network, Seven O’Clock, Metapurse, Flamingo, Terra Virtua, Lancer Capital, Dandy Room
Art Media Partners: Artsy, Artnet, Phoenix Art, Harper’s Bazaar Art, Artron Art, Hi Art, Art Business, The Wall, Insight Art, Art Alpha, Art Talk Sanlitun, Domino Art
Special Media Support: ChainNews, Jiemian News
Strategic Media Partners: Mars Finance, Planet Daily, DeepChain Finance, Chain Catcher, ChainDD, Blocklike, Deep Tide, Wu Blockchain, Gyro Finance, MyToken, PANews, BibiNews, TouNiao Blockchain
Strategic Community Partners: Bihu, RealSatoshi, DAOSquare, ArtGee, Whale, DoraHacks, ChainNode, Force Field, OG, CryptoC, Tspace
Preface
The exhibition, titled “Virtual Niche——Have You Ever Seen Memes in the Mirror?” explores the intersection of art and blockchain technology through the presentation of crypto art. It aims to help audiences understand the concept of crypto art while conveying ideas and culture that hold real-world significance, offering an immersive and interactive aesthetic experience.
A meme is a new creation that reflects reality and gains widespread popularity in the virtual world. When visually striking memes collide with blockchain technology, they circulate rapidly on blockchain platforms in non-fungible forms, becoming the precursors of crypto art. Visual images with meme characteristics form the foundation of crypto art, which continues to evolve by integrating blockchain technology with visual content. If the virtual world is a mirror of the real world, then what is this mirrored realm reflecting as people create new domains within it?
As time progresses, the scope of crypto art continues to expand, with more and more artists using it to engage in open discussions on various issues. Some artists create works on blockchain platforms, exploring themes such as financial transactions and the art market, generating new concepts based on crypto art that redefine the social contracts of the virtual world. The decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies has also garnered significant attention in the art world. Artists and collectors reach a consensus on information through blockchain, introducing cryptocurrency into the art field, enabling virtual content to be identified, attributed, and owned, thus assigning value to virtual data. In this process, the boundaries between creators and collectors blur, opening up new possibilities for art autonomy from the perspective of art collection. At the same time, crypto art prompts deeper reflection on the present and future, the virtual and the real—how do we define “existence” as technology continues to evolve?
With ongoing discussions, crypto art has emerged as a unique genre based on the virtual world, drawing on the visual characteristics of memes and other popular images. Crypto art is generating a distinctive domain in the contemporary landscape, where new creations continuously emerge within the virtual environment—a habitat of the virtual, reflecting memes in the mirror.