We’re so excited to announce that together, Gamma, Xverse, and Bitcoin Magazine are presenting the very first art gallery dedicated to Ordinal inscriptions: Ordinals Alley at Bitcoin Miami 2023. This initiative showcases art from talented emerging and well-known Web3 artists, settling their art forever on the most secure and time-tested blockchain: Bitcoin.
From day one, Gamma’s focus has been to empower creators with simple and powerful tools to launch their projects on Bitcoin. Together with Xverse, we’re bringing even more visibility and exposure to emerging artists from Web3, and presenting opportunities to those interested in securing their legacy on Bitcoin.
Gamma and Xverse will share ten screens for artists to use as a canvas and create a piece for the gallery. At Gamma, we perceive technology as a medium of art, to display the most innovative and talented artists of our time. And as the most advanced Bitcoin wallet, built for everyone, Xverse is putting the key to access this technology right in people’s hands. As you walk through this gallery, you’ll be immersed in an arena of Bitcoin-powered whimsy, taking a step beyond the traditional white cube galleries. The art exhibited at Ordinals Alley is complementary, bringing Ordinal inscriptions artwork to the real world.
Ordinals Alley Open Call
To start the art selection process for Ordinals Alley, we organized an open call for artists to share their background and ideas, giving upcoming artists a chance to have their work showcased in front of a global audience. Within a week, Gamma and Xverse received nearly 200 applications from artists around the world, all specializing in a variety of techniques ranging from poetry to interactive and generative art.
To select the final six artists whose work would be exhibited at Bitcoin Miami’s Ordinals Alley, we called upon a curation committee of six professional curators, collectors, and art connoisseurs. Each curator selected has a unique yet complementary background, bringing their own experiences, sensitivities, and approaches to art, making the curation process all the more interesting. Six artists were selected based on their practice, previous works, biography, the project they had in mind for this specific exhibition, and their long-term vision for Ordinals.
The open call section of the exhibition was curated by:
- Sarah Rossien, associate Artistic Director at Art Blocks.
- AC, generative art collector, partner at 6529 Capital, head of Generative Art desk
- Hugo Pouchard, art curator & advisor, previously Christie’s, artsy.net
- Cozomo di Medici, digital art patron and founder of The Medici Collection
- Sarah Meyohas, conceptual artist & founder of Bitchcoin
- Malte Rauch, partnerships & curation @brtmoments and advisor @glitchmarfa
Co-curation
For the four remaining screens, Gamma and Xverse commissioned creative input from Hugo Pouchard, who merged his experience from the traditional and digital world to support us in setting up a first, unique show.
From helping Christie’s transition to the online world, to developing the artsy.net European market by partnering up with galleries, fairs, and brands, Hugo has immersed himself in the digital/tech art field for a decade. He has worked in the Web3 and NFT industry for two years, and currently leads faction.art, an art incubator, supports and advises artists, and curates shows for galleries wanting to step into Web3.
We and Hugo Pouchard believe Ordinals will empower artists and their work. It only made sense for the exhibition to explore the evolving relationship between the art world, the medium, and the crypto community. Hugo and the team got in touch with Web3 artists inspired by Ordinals, who were keen to experiment, creating a trust-based relationship with the artists. Getting to know them, understanding their practice, establishing ambitions for the exhibition are all key aspects of curating an exhibition. We are excited to present Hugo’s beautiful selection that came out of this process.
Stay tuned
In our next blog post, we will discover the worlds and universes of the Open Call selected artists, don’t miss it!
