Todd James “Art Party” NFT “A Generative Art Project” – StreetArtNews

by James · September 9, 2022

Welcome to “Art Party”, a generative art project created by artist Todd James in collaboration with the GODA collection to share work within the web3 space. Borrowing iconography from his powerful paintings, the collection consists of 1533 NFTS that explore several themes from his studio practice. This is an opportunity to collect Todd James’ first web 3 project and engage with a new artistic community.

Want to know more about Todd?

Check out our interview from his solo show “Garden of Eden” at Ross & Kramer gallery in NYC, May 2021 here!

Do you want to know more about Art Party?

Art Party is a collection of artistic themes displayed in the exhibition of Todd James. Drawing on his decades-long practice, James has selected six motifs that resonate strongly in our current moment. The tanks, warplanes and snipers all began to appear in James’ work during the global conflict of the early 2000s, and are perhaps more relevant today than ever in their subversive critique of war. The cartoon treatment they get softens the aesthetic blow but allows the hit to connect, or as James says: “Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying.”

The images Graffiti, TitWizard and Phantom Rider, on the other hand, represent a return to childhood. The graffiti collection was inspired by writing in its purest form: 1970s inspired bubble letters, with the piece brought to life with either a cobra or a classic graffiti figure or ‘mug’. These are inspired by recent large-scale paintings that James created while revisiting his graffiti roots in exhibition settings.

TitWizards and Phantom Rider explore themes of magic, lust and death and are perennial favorites in the iconographic canon of James’ work. Representing mystery and power, these images also harken back to the 1970s and adolescence inundated with sci-fi, comics and Dungeons & Dragons, with a nostalgic nod to a more analogue lifestyle.

Todd explains further “The collection takes a selection of themes from my paintings such as Tanks, WarPlanes and Snipers along with an image from a recent painting of a Phantom Rider. Also included is the Tit Wizards which was a plush sculptural toy that had appeared in small paintings. The last theme is a graffiti bubble letter with a classic graffiti character and or a cobra face. These themes were chosen as an introduction to the web 3 community and would be familiar to both irl collectors and art lovers.”

All these themes interact to create Art Party, a collection of different images that come together with joy. Todd is excited to introduce a selection of his art to the web3 community and also give his IRL collectors new to the web3 space some familiar works to enjoy.