05 ICA MIAMI X ART BASEL12-2022
CEMENTING A LEGACY CrypoPunks partnered with ICA Miami to host an Art Basel launch event and installation of the museum’s newly-acquired Punk 305. As the first donation of the Punks Legacy Project, it marked a significant milestone in institutional recognition of CryptoPunks as contemporary art.
The highlight of the event was the unveiling of Punk 305 next one of Andy Warhol’s Society portraits, making a connection to the fact that the portraits were in many ways precursors to the present-day phenomenon of prestigious PFPs. The series is uniform in format: all the paintings are square (40x40 in.) and display the subject from the shoulders up, reproducing their image using a combination of painterly and printing techniques.
In showcasing #305 (aka. Virtual Lady) alongside Warhol’s (American Lady), the installation aimed to illuminate the various affinities –both aesthetic and conceptual— that exist between Warhol’s portrait painting practice and the CryptoPunks digital avatar collection.
The ICA hosted Art Basel guests after hours at their First Fridays event to get an exclusive viewing experience, accompanied by a concert from feminist punk band and performance art collective Pussy Riot.
Photography by Bob Foster.
Art Direction
Digital Assets
Strategy
Copy Writing