Known for her jaw-dropping pop culture paintings and equally unapologetic and magnetic charm, artist Ashley Longshore dropped her genesis NFT collection this week making a big splash in line with her usual boundary-pushing creativity.
Longshore’s first digital art foray includes 862 NFTs derived from paintings of 62 notable women of their time as featured in the artist’s latest coffee table book ROAR!, which she published with Rizzoli. Her iconic portraits of powerhouses like Longshore herself, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Michelle Obama, Simone Biles, Frida Khalo, and Lizzo will be making their way to the Metaverse via this incredible collection.
Longshore teamed up with NFT-centric jewelry brand and digital gallery Metagolden to create the collection and drop trailblazing NFTs. The duo tapped glitch artist Kilsy Curiel to put a digital spin on Longshore’s iconic paintings to make them even more unique for their blockchain debut.
The collection, which comes in the form of a blind drop, will be revealed to its owners on January 22nd. Many of the pieces will feature exciting unlockables including lucite cubes with a QR code to display the art, signed copies of ROAR!, and Metagolden’s signature fine jewelry.
The unlockable jewelry component is pretty impressive. Collectors have a chance to own a pair of 3-carat diamond and 18k gold earrings valued at $8,500 USD, a Metagolden BlockChain necklace valued at $7,450 USD or a gold medallion designed by Ashley Longshore herself valued at $8,500 USD.
The jewelry component of the unlockables is a unique aspect of this collection, and one of Metagolden’s signature brand standards. Founded by Francine Ballard, Metagolden combines curated NFT art with her sophisticated fine jewelry. Buyers can not only get in on the exciting digital art world within the Metaverse, but some will receive pieces of real gold jewelry as complimentary tangible bonus assets to their NFT investments. The best of both worlds.
Ballard dreamed up this epic splash for her artist friend to finally enter the NFT space in hopes of welcoming newcomers into the crypto art world. The welcoming, innovative Metaverse community is no doubt an ideal place for Longshore, known for her unabashed creations.
A Metaverse community of Longshore’s fans is already abuzz with this drop. In addition, after the reveal, 1 lucky purchaser will get the ability to have their own portrait painted IRL by Ashley Longshore herself.
MAJOR ART POWERHOUSE
The collection is as major as the artist herself. Ashley Longshore has gained major status in the art world with collaborations with global brands and major names like Diane Von Furstenburg, Bergdorf Goodman, and even a recent collaboration as an artist in residence for the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. Collectors of her physical paintings include countless celebrities and movers and shakers including actress Blake Lively and fashion designer Christian Siriano.
Longshore’s fans pack an incredibly loyal punch. Her dedicated following has been cultivated by Longshore who has long been a pioneer of artists maintaining control of their own careers compared to more traditional artist/gallery relationships. A decentralized blockchain for her creations is just what the doctor ordered for this no-nonsense artist.
The artist has expressed her excitement with entering the Metaverse with cheeky videos on her Instagram empowering her followers to get in on the Web3 action.
A SOLD-OUT PRESALE
The entire collection sold out in minutes on their dedicated microsite during Monday’s presale and created a frenzy on the secondary market with over 300 ETH trading volume in less than 24 hours on Opensea alone.
Amidst the chaos of the pieces flying off to their new owners, Metagolden faced a few technical hiccups in working to bring what was originally a non-crypto native project to life. Ballard is navigating the learning curve with a palpable passion for the community she is creating.
Ballard tearfully addressed the collection’s fans on Clubhouse on Tuesday to celebrate the drop. She expressed sentiments of her important mission to empower others to discover the wonders and magic that only the Metaverse contains.
The collection ranked in the top 50 in secondary sales volume for its first day on OpenSea. Issues aside this was a majorly impressive kickoff.
With promises of several new drops coming for the fearless duo, it’s clear both Longshore and Metagolden are just beginning. Ballard teased the idea of wearables as a focus in the next drop in the collection’s Discord channel.
With such a wildly successful genesis drop, here’s to looking ahead to some major Metagolden x Ashley Longshore happenings.
