Artist and NFT Advocate Justin Aversano Presents 'Smoke and Mirrors' In LA
For Justin Aversano, the world of NFTs has only just begun. Best known for his collection Twin Flames - which solidified Aversano as one of the leading photographers producing NFTs - the artist can also add CEO of digital platform Quantum Art and creative director of nonprofit organisation SaveArtSpace to his CV, both seeing him actively bringing community art to public spaces, the digital and physical alike.
His next project unveiled at LA's Gabba Gallery at the weekend, ensures the two mediums combine. The exhibition reveals the artist's latest iteration of his acclaimed series Smoke and Mirrors, featuring 78 limited edition silkscreen prints attached to NFTs. Using the medium of photography, the work is akin to a tarot deck as a selection of 22 gold and 56 silver portraits capture Aversano's local healers, spiritualists, creatives and family in handmade analogue prints, deemed by Aversano himself as 'hybrid photographic neo-hieroglyphs'.
Marrying the world of the occult with crypto, there is more than meets the eye in Aversano's evocative portraits, all of which showcase a sense of community, family, love, grief and individualism. Presented on a material often associated with ancient Egyptian scrolls - papyrus - Aversano links the traditional fabric to the ever-evolving digital world - with NFTs being used to preserve a digital footprint of any artwork in the same way these ancient scrolls were carefully passed down through generations.
'We've been creating these works here for over two years now. I had the concept, and I've been working on this since 2016. And since March of 2021, we've been silkscreening this project to be minted and sold on the blockchain', the artist said in a statement.
Aversano joined forces with Jason Ostro of Gabba Gallery through their work on Aversano's well-known Twin Flames project in 2021, and the rest is history. Since then, Aversano and Ostro have been focused on the artwork collection, which went on show at Gabba Gallery on 25 March.
Calling all Los Angeles-based photography lovers, Aversano's exhibition will be on display at Gabba Gallery until 8 April.