Justin Aversano Takes a Quantum Leap for NFT Photography – Cointelegraph Magazine

Artist name: Justin Aversano
Placement: Los Angeles
Date marked first NFT: 15 February 2021
Which blockchains? Ethereum

Bio:

Unintentionally, the healing process of losing his twin sister at birth sparked Justin Aversano’s career to become the poster child for NFT photography. His most famous collection, “Twin Flames”, has 5900 ETH in total sales volume on OpenSea and several million sales, including one auctioned at Christie’s.

A multidisciplinary artist with a keen eye and passion for photography, Aversano’s journey into NFTs began with a trip to Peru to work with local shamans to try to overcome an addiction and depression. It was on that trip that he began to heal and found a spark that would become the first idea for his iconic collection.

“I never questioned that I was an artist, but you know the feeling inside when you struggle with anger, depression, sadness and grief. I was looking to grow out of grief and be whole. In San Pedro, there was a ceremony run by twins. It really opened my heart to connect with my twin, who passed away during my mom’s pregnancy. It felt like opening Pandora’s box. I remember thinking, ‘Okay, there’s something there, and I have to work on it.'”

A few months away from San Pedro, Aversano was at an exhibition photographing a pair of twins who came to his art show. That night he knew he was ready to take on this new project with twins in the spotlight.

“I just started with the twins that night. Then they introduced me to other twins. There was a whole domino effect of connecting with twins. To understand the feeling of what it would have been like to have a twin and to honor my twin, and also my mother, because I feel that losing my twin was also part of losing my mother and her having ovarian cancer, he says .

“There are so many different elements, and a lot of my art is for my mother, my family, and honoring ancestors. I like it when you work with healing,” says Aversano.

Despite putting together the Twin Flames project in the traditional sense, including a book and an exhibition highlighting the work, it wasn’t until Aversano discovered NFTs that things got crazy.

“Another two years passed. I had the Twin Flames project on my website and Instagram, but then I discovered NFTs. I didn’t see any other photo projects online. I embossed Twin Flames and the next day it sold out – and changed my life.”

Now, just two years after his first mint, Aversano – who is considered by most to be at the top of the NFT photography supply chain – has amassed over 8,100 ETH in sales volume on OpenSea alone.

Aversano also carries the torch for budding photographers looking to turn their creative endeavors into the NFT world with Quantum Art, a platform focused on curating and dropping NFT collections that launched in September 2021, with a special focus on NFT photography.

“With Quantum, I’ve said this from the beginning: I want it to be what Art Blocks is to generative art. I have so much respect for Erick (Snowfro) with what he has done with Art Blocks and we want the same for photography. There is so much respect for generative art and I can understand that because everyone has computers. I would like to see photography have its heyday because it has always been the underdog, says Aversano.

Notable Sales:

Twin Flames #49. Alyson and Courtney Aliano: Sold for 888 ETH ($3.7 million at the time) on November 23, 2021, making it the eighth most expensive photograph ever sold. Purchased via PartyBid.

Twin Flames #83. Bahaeeh and Farzaneh: Sold for $1.1 million on October 6, 2021 at Christie’s.

Twin Flames #2. Jessica and Joyce Gayo: Sold for 207 ETH ($959,027) on November 10, 2021.

Twin Flames #1. Ali and Gilli Glatt: Sold for 200 ETH ($686,696) on September 7, 2021.

influences:

Aversano cites the influence of photographers such as Irving Penn, David LaChapelle, Diane Arbus, Vivian Maier and Robert Frank, as well as painters such as Alex Gray and Dustin Yellin.

He’s inspired by all NFT photographers, but gives a special shout out to Beeple: “That guy is the biggest influence of all!”

Aversano also highlights the influence of prominent NFT personality Gmoney on his rise to NFT stardom.

“As far as collectors go, Gmoney was one of the biggest influences on my life. We talked a bit and I asked him if he spent $250,000 on a monkey JPG, would he buy real art? He told me he’d rather buy NFTs. He helped me by talking to Flamingo DAO and the CryptoPunks community. They all supported me with my NFT drops,” he says.

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Which artist should we be aware of?

With regard to other artists in the room who catch his eye, Aversano notes IX Shells, a sound and visual artist whose piece Buoy was recently acquired by the Buffalo AKG Art Museum: “She is one of my favorite artists. She is cool as a person and an artist.”

He also notes Summer Wagner, a photographer based out of Rockford, Illinois.

Process and personal style:

Talking about how his artwork evolves over time, Aversano says, “Every project I’ve thought about has been thought about for years. There’s nothing I’ve made and thought about stamping an NFT the next day. I’ve worked on these big projects for years, and it hasn’t existed in the art world the way I wanted it to.”

“This is the best time of my life as an artist in this era – for everything I create to be an NFT. I see a lot of other artists who have careers that are older than mine and they start with NFTs, and not all your stuff is on the blockchain. This is the perfect time for me as an artist to have all my art on the blockchain from scratch.”

“I often think about coining art as NFTs like handprints on old scrolls on the blockchain. It brings the past, present and future together in a special way and you can live in your digital gallery in your own home,” he concludes.

Greg Oakford

Greg Oakford is co-founder of NFT Fest Australia. A former marketing and communications specialist in the sports world, Greg now focuses his time on running events, creating content and consulting in web3. He is an avid NFT collector and hosts a weekly podcast covering all things NFTs.

Follow the author @GregOakford