Since 2020 NFTs are one of the hottest trends in the crypto space. Almost everyone is talking about NFT’s and some are making big banks from them.
The digital assets can represent visual artworks, music, videos, or anything else and are traded through NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, Rarible, and Nifty Gateway.
If you still do not know what NFTs are, fear not. You can quickly catch up by reading this article.
In this article we present the leading, biggest, top selling NFT artists that are pioneering this innovative and exciting part of the crypto space.
Also, check out CryptoArt.io for more data: most expensive NFT artworks, best selling NFT artists, highest sales and artworks sold per NFT marketplace.
With no further ado: a list of NFT artists who we think are the most influential, famous and popular in 2022.
Notice
Due to the large file sizes of many of the animated crypto artworks, we only show the static images here to give an impression. Check out the respective NFT marketplaces and artists’ websites for the original files of these beautiful crypto artworks.
1. Beeple
Beeple
The Picasso of pixels
Mike Winkelmann is a digital artist that got even more famous after auction house Christie’s sold his collage of daily artworks “Everydays: the First 5000 days” for a stunning $69 million in March 2021—the top-selling NFT to date.
He is known for his obscene, sometimes phantasmagoric artworks, mash-ups of pop culture and politics and this makes him truly a visionary digital artist at the forefront of NFTs.
It was Pak (5th on our list) that introduced Beeple to selling NFTs in October 2020. After selling “Everydays”, Beeple called NFTs an “irrational exuberance bubble”.
Currently, he makes most of his art using Cinema4D and rendering software Octane.
Make sure to check out all collections on his website and follow him on Twitter to see his everydays.
2. Snowfro
Snowfro
Named after a snow cone stand he used to own.
Erick Calderon is a digital artist and founder of Art Blocks, the world’s first platform for creating on-demand decentralized generative (computer-generated) artworks.
From a young age, Snowfro was already taking his first steps into coding. It let him to projection mapping installations at music events and in 2017 he entered the NFT space.
Around then he got the idea to create a place where artists could write generative scripts on the blockchain that then form unique artworks basis on randomized variables.
Snowfro is best known for creating the Chromie Squiggle generative art NFT project. The Chromie Squiggles change when you hover over it, and there are more ways of interaction. Read more about it on Artblocks’ wiki.
(owned by SnowFro)
3. pplpleasr
pplpleasr
Spiritual godmother of NFT collective PleasrDAO
Emily yang is a multidisciplinary artist and started designing visual effects for movies like Batman v Superman, Wonder Woman, and Star Trek Beyond.
She also created One piece, a video for DeFi project Uniswap. That inspired the formation of PleasrDAO, a prolific NFT investment club.
Pplpleasr’s work is influenced by animated films, the underground music scene, video games, and traditional Chinese and Japanese art.
(video)
(video)
4. PAK
PAK
The Pied Piper of virtual art
Murat Pak is one of the most reputed NFT artists of all time. He was one of the most successful NFT artists before Beeple.
Back in the early 2020s, if people had to talk about who is the best NFT artist in the space, PAK’s name would pop up everywhere. Since then he has sold over $3.5 million Dollars worth of art.
His artworks have a dynamic, changing, abstract and futuristic theme.
Check out The Fungible collection, a collaboration with auction house Sotheby’s exclusively on NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway.
(video)
(video)
(video)
5. XCOPY
XCOPY
The Anonymous One
London-based NFT artist was one of the earliest artists to dive into the crypto art space. He said that it was “the first and only way to sell my digital artwork in its true form”.
This NFT early-adopter reveals little personal information, however, his or her digital artworks rank among the top-selling.
The artworks are usually death- or dystopian-themed and come with a warning: flashing imagery.
(gif)
6. Josie Bellini
Josie Bellini
The Finance girl
Josie Bellini is a crypto artist that was working in finance before she was introduced to the world of NFTs.
When she was doing programming summer camps, she already was constantly incorporating crypto and art in her projects.
Currently, Josie is working on CryptoBrokers that will include NFT collectibles. An owner will then have access to MirrorWave, a metaverse fashion brand, that she is also creating.
Most of her artworks revolve around the digital asset world in itself.
(gif)
(gif)
(gif)
7. Hackatao
Hackatao
Nadia Squarci and Sergio Scarlet
The duo behind Hackatao—resides in the mountains outside of Milan, where they have been making digital art since 2018.
Their art represents topics on environment, humanity, crypto, and the issues of society.
The pair frequently depict little cartoon monsters in their surrealist pop art.
View their page on NFT marketplaces Nifty Gateway and SuperRare.
(video)
(video)
(gif)
8. Itzel Yard
Itzel Yard
IX Shells
One of the top-selling NFT artists. Commissioned by The Tor Project, which builds a privacy-focused web browser, she created “Dreaming at Dusk”.
The cryptographic key was used as input to create a generative artifact of the organizations’ first Onion Routing Service.
It was sold for around $2 million to PleasrDAO, a group of collectors, on Foundation.
Yard’s works are a lot about generative art. Using variables as input digital artworks are created automatically by computing the patterns and shapes.
9. FEWOCiOUS
FEWOCiOUS
NFT Renaissanceur
Victor Langlois was responsible for crashing auction house Christie’s website for the first time after too many buyers tried to bid on his digital art.
“Fewo” was only 17 years old when he gained immense success in the world of NFTs, selling more than $4 million dollars worth of art. After that launch to the moon, he had several collaborations: sneaker brand RTFKT Studios and with musician Two Feet.
When a New York-based art collector bought one of his artworks for as little as $90 Dollars, it opened the door since that person introduced FEWOCiOUS to the world of NFTs.
His artwork commonly features a collage-like style with notes placed on it.
(animated)
10. 3LAU
3LAU
pronounced “BLAU”
Justin David Blau is not a visual artist but an electronic dance DJ. He is the one that sold the world’s first tokenized album, earning $11.6 million. Soon after that famous artists like Kings of Leon and Jay-Z followed.
Sources
All images used are courtesy of the respective artists.
What (famous) digital artist is missing on our list?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Last Updated on 03/10/2022 by delta
