How WhisBe United 24 leading artists for his next drop

When New York-based artist WhisBe – short for “What is beauty?” — only rekindled the then dormant flame in his creative fire in 2011, he was most concerned with following in the footsteps of his heroes in the traditional art world. Through graffiti, he believed, he could iterate on the works of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. The result was commercial images aimed at disrupting public spaces – WhIsBe’s view of graffiti art.

But amidst all of WhIsBe’s subversive iconography, one recurring character in his works stands out in its biting critique of the American criminal justice system: Vandal Gummy. Originally, this character – an anthropomorphized gummy bear draped in prison garb – was located on walls hidden in the streets of New York. Eventually, sculptures of Vandal Gummy were produced, with one such sculpture finding its way into the personal gallery of billionaire New York real estate developer Larry Silverstein.

WhIsBe’s unifying power in Web3

Today, Vandal Gummy now also lives on the blockchain, and WhisBe offers his work as a canvas for 24 of the NFT space’s leading artists. In our latest episode of Behind The Drop, WhIsBe discussed future plans for the iconic Vandal Gummy character, and the value of collaboration in the NFT space.

Following the success of WhiIsBe’s original Vandals collection, which saw him bring Vandal Gummy into the NFT space via an 11,111-piece collection, the New York-based artist is set to add the first to the collection with the Vandalized Edition: a 600 – piece drop with collaboration with some of the NFT space’s best and brightest artists. “If we are to practice and preach community, […] we have to walk the walk and not just talk, said WhIsBe in an interview with nft now.

Headlining the 600-piece drop are reinterpretations of the Vandal Gummy character by Steve Aoki, Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova, FVCKRENDER, Mad Dog Jones, XCOPY and more. With this initiative, WhIsBe hopes to pay tribute to some of the NFT space’s most important voices and artists, while promoting its continued growth. Speaking at the NFT site, WhIsBe stated: “I think it’s trying to find its identity. I think everyone is trying to find their identity, but forget to forget being the cool, popular kid at school and stick to what they believe in.” Working together is definitely a step in that direction. Vandal Gummy’s Vandalized Edition is set to go live on September 28.