Digital show ‘Invisible Cities’ features new NFT art that ranges from utopian cityscapes to sci-fi urban environments

Karisman, Hereretopia, 2021, Unique Non Fungible Token

Using Italo Calvino’s seminal novel as a springboard, ‘Invisible Cities’, a new show of NFT (non-fungible token) art imagines utopian cityscapes that never came to be.

The digital exhibition presents a world of potential, as viewers coast through these imagined cyberspaces, which oscillate between fact and fantasy. Comprising ten newly commissioned unique digital pieces by Fabio Giampietro, Jenisu, Elise Swopes, Karisman, Dangiuz, Kldpxl, Gutty Kreum, Mari K, Annibale Siconolfi, and Nate Mohler, the show presents a multifaceted global response to Calvino’s framework.

Karisman, Rejuvenation, 2021, Unique Non Fungible Token

‘Calvino’s seminal text is a perfect framework for today’s NFT art market, remaining a tour de force of the imagination,’ explain exhibition curators An Rong and Elisabeth Johs. ‘Most likely, we will never be able to fathom the origin of such visions. Are they part of the universal archetypal imagery? The mystery behind the future of NFTs and their place in the world needs a response with imagination. The mystery behind imagination is a forever conundrum.’

‘Invisible Cities’ will be live to collectors worldwide until 30 April 2021, as buy now or via auction, through SuperRare, a platform built on the Ethereum blockchain.

Mari K, Emiris, 2021, Unique Non-Fungible Token

Mari K’s Diomira offers a take on the first city described in Calvino’s book. Elsewhere through the ether, Gutty Kreum stirs up nostalgia-induced dreams of Japan, and Nate Mohler delves into memories and dreams in his Painted Cities series.

The show makes no effort to hide parallels between these urban fragments and the crypto world they occupy. Built on abstract foundations and decentralised viewpoints, they both present a web of invisible objects, economies, exchanges, communities, systems and processes. But their most common trait hinges on a riddle: what is real, and what is imagined?

As Calvino states in Invisible Cities, ‘Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else.’ §

Karisman, Fascade, 2021, Unique Non Fungible Token

Gutty Kreum, Nara, 2021, Unique Non-Fungible Token

Karisman, Plureality, 2021, Unique Non Fungible Token

Jenisu, City Scape, 2021, Unique Non Fungible Token