Interview with Brian Beccafico, a young art collector
Hello Brian, we’re delighted to have a chat about your background and your projects in the art market.
Could you start by telling us about yourself, your background and your projects in the art world?
Art is both my passion and vocation, during my BA at EDHEC I’ve had the opportunity to do internships in various types of art organisations such as auction house, gallery, communication agency and art/blockchain startup. I wanted to have the broadest perspective of the art market/world as possible. I would like to build an entrepreneurial project that helps the various stakeholders of this particular industry using technological innovation. I would love to make it possible for more people of my generation to be attracted to art the way I do.
If I understand correctly, you come from a family of art lovers. How was it like to grow up surrounded by art?
My parents started their collection over 40 years ago, over the course of their life the have accumulated objects of art beyond what many would consider a healthy amount. Our house has always been full of it. It’s quite particular to grow up surrounded by art, you must be really careful as a child of your surroundings, it helps you be aware of fragility and preciosity of objects. Over the years you end up developing an emotional attachment to those objects, I have a personal story with each of them. When I look at some pieces, I remember how I used to interact with them as a child. It is nice to know your only one to see an artwork under this scope. Others see a name, a price, a medium or a movement, I see memories.
Art by Bernard Venet — Brian Beccafico’s family art collection
Do you have a favorite art piece in your family’s art collection?
It’s very difficult to pick just one ! I don’t think I have one favorite, especially since we have so many different periods, mediums and types of artwork. How could I compare contemporary art to antiquity, and new media art ? It seems to be way too much mental stretch.
I love our anamorphic installation made by Felice Varini, my favorite painting must be the Ragnarok of Bengh Lindstrom, favorite sculpture must be the “ligne inderterminé” of Bernard Venet, favorite antiquity, must be the Nevim de bimbao.
Art by Felice Varini, Brian Beccafico’s family art collection
“The aim is to build up a digital reputation because it’s very important if you want to make a career in the art market but I also want to promote the collection because I believe it’s a way to value it in the long term.”
You’re very active on social media with several accounts on Instagram and a big presence on Clubhouse. Can you tell us a little more about your digital presence?
I’m having fun, one of my accounts is about stuff I visit and see online, another is about the collection, another one is an art meme account. I use twitter to follow crypto art news, linkedin for art world news. I’m mostly on Clubhouse to talk about NFT and collecting. I like this app because I am quite frustrated with writing and the audio aspect of it is way more laid back. The aim is to build up a digital reputation because it’s very important if you want to make a career in the art market but I also want to promote the collection because I believe it’s a way to value it in the long term.
Brian Instagram accounts:
The NFT art space is no secret for you. Many people see you as an expert in the field. When did you first get interested in NFT’s?
The term NFT is quite recent (even crypto punk or crypto kitties were not labelled as “NFT” when they launched in 2017) although many people in the industry have been talking about the various synergy that exist between Blockchain system and art for years now. I had started to read everything about the topic when I turned 18, I knew about blockchains systems already and with my background in art it was quite easy to understand the potentiality it could have. I was religiously reading anything that Jason Bailey, Jurgen Dsainbayonne, Kate Vass, George Bak and Jesse Houlgrave would produce on the topic. Looking up what companies like Artory, Verisart, Maecenas, Codex protocol and Arteia were doing. Listening to talks organised for the art market day, deloitte art and finance, Blockchain summit, Art+tech summit of chrisites. After a while I started to get really interested in new media art and digital art, video production ect. All this accumulated knowledge finally came handy last year in early september, when an artist you might have heard of now, called “beeple” shared on his instagram that he was doing an NFT drop, I had never heard the term before but after a 2 minute read I understood its was the concentration of all i have been studying for the past 6 years, loving this artist work i was going to participate to the drop. I didn’t manage to get it for 1$ on drop but knowing I would be missing out on something big I purchased it out the 2nd market for what was at the time a ludicrous amount of money for crypto art.
We can read a lot of articles saying that NFT’s are just a hype. What is your opinion on that topic?
Art is only talked about on mainstream media when a record sales hit, its a bit sad to see that most that write about art or NFT are talking about money all the time ! You’ll be surprised how much the blockchain is philosophical based rather than financial.
Crypto art must be the only ever created global art movement ! To me NFT is just a component of a trend that has been moving quietly from the past 20 years, as our reality becomes more and more digital, it seems nothing but natural that digital art will take a bigger place in the years to come.
Not to mention that the tech industry is nowaday the one with the highest payroll, developers will have a lot of disposable income and is soon to become a prime target for the art market. What are those people interested in ? technology based art, anything they can relate to, and in that regard digital art is much more pertinent than conventional medium type.
Technology as a medium of art, has been already adopted by an entire generation of emergent artists. New Media Arts, Glitch Art, Générative Art, VR Art, AR Art, AI Art, Projection Art, Digital Art, Crypto Art, NFT, and their histories are fascinating.
They resonate with our contemporary reality and the interest of new collectors in a way that no other form of art does.
There is nothing new about it and NFT are just the tip of the iceberg.
“In term of NFT collection I am proud to say I have artwork from almost all the most renowned artists of the space, Beeple, Pak, John Karel, Slime sunday, Fewocious (…).”
Screenshot of Brian Beccafico’s first NFT — “Politic bullshit 97/100 from Beeple, Brian Beccafico’s NFT art collection — View full video
You’re also a young art and NFT collector. Could you share some of your collection with us?
I started collecting prints of local artists when I was traveling around, almost like souvenirs. I have one that I bought in Florence that I’m particularly fond of, made by Clet Abraham a street artist that uses singaletic as the basis of his body of works. In term of NFT collection I am proud to say I have artwork from almost all the most renowned artists of the space, Beeple, Pak, John Karel, Slime sunday, Fewocious, Hackatao, XCOPY but I also collect a lot of underdog such as Roger Kilimanjaro, Alotta Money, Joanie lemercier, Klarens Malluta, CB Hoyo, Kenny schachter, Gala Mirisa, lulux … I have accumulated work from over 40 different NFT artists.
By the way, do you think young visual artists and art students should start selling NFT’s? Why or why not?
They already have ! But fair warning it’s not magical internet money, selling an NFT is the same thought process of selling a print, it costs money to create, it requires a lot of time and effort to make it, promote it and sell it. If as an artist you think it’s relevant to sell your work as NFT then do it ! It’s a bit case by case, but in my opinion if you want to make digital art you have at least to use a bit of technology in your creative process, taking a picture of painting and selling it as NFT wouldn’t be interesting to me, although there is no rule in the crypto art industry and anyone can come up with their own proposition. One way to experience it at a cheaper expense is to use Hic Et Nunc, an NFT platform based on the Tezos blockchain which has the advantages of being fully decentralised, community based, with almost zero gas fees or ecological impact.
“The future is already here for some but the art world is stuck in the past. This revolution is just the beginning.”
How do you imagine the future of art?
We are journeying into a future that sees the barrier between technology and fine art broken down. Technologies are spawning a revolution in decentralised networks and extending to art. Digital and conventional artists will be able to guarantee provenance, information access will be facilitated by blockchain technology. The future is already here for some but the art world is stuck in the past. This revolution is just the beginning.
If you had 3 tips to give young people wanting to buy their first art works, what would it be?
- Inform yourself
- Buy things you love
- Be cautious
(great book for that, “how to buy your 5 first artwork” by deaodano Salafia)
Elisabeth Gomes Barradas , GODDESS’ MAP, 2017, serigraphy, 90X160cm, 295€
Finally, what is your favorite artwork on Art From Future and why?
Goddess’ Map by Elizabeth Gomes Parradas, I love her character, her story, her influence and her approach, I feel like they’re all encompassed in this serigraphie, I’m always very fond of collage, anthropology, the ideal of beauty through social media, body modification and I was raised by cap verdean nanny so i feel personally attract to her work.
Originally published at https://artfromfuture.com on July 8, 2021.
