TNAN: “The NEW Art Newspaper”

In a world where we communicate through memes and emojis, and we are shifting more and more toward visual languages, something clicked in my mind when I started to examine and enjoy the art of creators like Moxarra and Stellabelle, and later found out about the upcoming project by Panter Xhita.

Can we also document history, facts, relationships, and people through visuals? Can we speak, report, and certificate through art?

This idea is not new in the art world. Art used to fulfill this purpose in ancient times. It did it until recently when, with the arrival of photography, artists were freed from the duty of portraying historical characters, patrons, battles, and horses. They could dedicate their creativity to the art of the mind, the heart, and the sixth sense.

So, besides the fact that linguistically speaking, we are probably going back to (digital) hieroglyphs, and therefore we find ourselves feeling very comfortable in this visual, short and quick way of communicating: what is new in this process of documenting through art?

The answer is technology, and specifically, the blockchain.

The blockchain is the absolute timestamp, something that wasn’t possible before. It is the meta-documentation, the accurate tool for eternity.

Now think about all this and apply it to digital portraits and digital paintings of facts.

And here come Moxarra, Stellabelle, and Panter Xhita, to unveil their artistic universe and make us aware of news, facts, people, and dramas through their creations time-stamped on the blockchain.

Their works are irreverent, fun, ironic, extra-detailed, and especially, they tell us a story. Stories of those who created and have been participating in developing one of the most exciting spaces of all times, decentralized, accessible, free.

Moxarra does it through his GIFs, always searching for the most recognizable and sarcastic connections to symbols, logos, and images that are already part of our visual vocabulary, commenting on salient facts in the crypto art space.

Stellabelle’s portraits are the essence of memetic communication. You could spend hours finding the details and references in each of her creations, where she presents the main characters of the story of crypto art. Humorous, iconic.

And finally, Panter Xhita, with her project “A History of Crypto Art,” a collection of deeply thought portraits of the crypto artists who have been shaping the space, with her interpretation of their personalities and roles.

Now, do you see what I see?

This is just the beginning of something bigger that will open the doors to a contemporary way of communicating and documenting through art while using the most advanced technologies and imprinting these stories in perpetuity.

Eleonora Brizi