LOS ANGELES — The Digital Awakening, a collection of over 70 artworks from multidisciplinary artists throughout the United States, is being showcased at MOZAIK Philanthropy’s 2023 Future Art Awards.
This exhibition is now open and accessible to the public free of charge.
During the 8-week open call, hundreds of artists submitted their works, reflecting on humanity’s connection to the digital world and the consequences of Web 3.0.
This included examining its impact on the human condition, the environment, and the potential of a democratized and decentralized art world.
Twenty-five U.S. artists from all walks of life and creative expressions were selected through a blind review process by an independent jury of artists, and art professionals. They will receive the prestigious Future Art Award prize, including artist honorariums, ranging from $2,500 for individual NFTs and non-NFT artworks, to $5,000 prizes for NFT Collections. Each featured artist in the group exhibition uses the power of art to reimagine what a high-tech, highly connected future could look like, which is also deeply human.
As human beings begin to shift away from the physical world toward virtual and augmented realities, the world of art stands at the center of a global movement where the advent of a digital blockchain-based future will inevitably have a profound impact on art, culture, politics, activism, and the economy.
“Artists are witnessing both the rise and the uncertainty of the NFT art ecosystem,” said Keely Badger, Executive Director of MOZAIK Philanthropy.
“Many of them want to get involved and sell their art directly to buyers in marketplaces like OpenSea, Rarible, and Foundation, as the number of blockchains continue to rise despite some concerns over the inclusivity, representation, and sustainability standards of this fast-growing art space. We wanted the exhibition to stand as a provocative, cutting-edge creative range of response to both the hopes and fears of an AI-generated future.”
Jury members of The Digital Awakening include Sasha Stiles, Metapoet, literary artist, and AI researcher; Shana Nys Drumbot, art critic, curator, and Arts Editor for the L.A. Weekly; Virginia Valenzuela, Managing Editor at SuperRare Labs; Mixed Media artist Tony London; Visual artist Krovbit; and Heidi Johnson, Founder of Hijinx Art PR and Management.
Since launching the Future Art Awards in 2020, MOZAIK Philanthropy has awarded over 400 artists with artist support grants and virtual exhibition exposure opportunities, including photographers, painters, sculptors, street artists, muralists, mixed-media artists, visual, multi and interdisciplinary artists, illustrators, animators, 3D artists, NFT artists, cartoonists, technologists, shorts filmmakers, poets, art writers, composers, weavers, dancers, and creative performers.
The 2023 Future Art Awards: The Digital Awakening exhibition is now on view at https://mozaikphilanthropy.org/digital-awakening/
