March 19, 2021
Philadelphia artist Aaron Ricketts is joining the growing world of non-fungible tokens.
Ricketts, a Temple University graduate, shot the photos for the "Concrete Cowboy" movie poster that's being used to promote the film inspired by North Philly's Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club, which premieres on Nextflix next month.
His artwork previously has been displayed throughout the city. He's had installations at SEPTA's Walnut-Locust Station, Kismet Cowork and Temple's Tyler School of Art.
Ricketts' photography is now moving online. The artist is getting in on the NFT art trend by making surrealist photography works that can be bought, sold and viewed exclusively online, using the cryptocurrency Ethereum, also known as ETH.
There's a lot of confusion surrounding NFTs, but they're essentially one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable, digital items. They could be anything digital — photographs, videos, even tweets. But a lot of people view it as an evolving form of fine art collecting.
To his own surprise, Ricketts' first NFT work sold for $5,268, or 2.88 ETH, during an online auction.
My first NFT just sold for 2.88 ETH ($5,268.59).
— Aaron Ricketts (@aaronricketts_) March 11, 2021
I am shocked and beyond grateful. Looking forward to continuing this journey.
"I’ve sold work physically for hundreds of dollars, but never sold a piece for $5,000. The fact that people were actually bidding for it completely blew my mind," Ricketts recently told Technical.ly.
The piece can be seen below.
The work doesn't come anywhere near the value of the NFTs that have caught the world's attention over the past few weeks. The artist Beeple's "Everydays — The First 5,000 Days," shattered records when the video sold for $69.3 million.
An NFT of the popular Nyan Cat GIF sold for $600,000. The musician Grimes — who is married to tech billionaire Elon Musk — sold $6 million worth of NFTs, including music videos. Another work by Beeple, of the graffiti-covered body of ex-President Donald Trump, sold for $6.6 million.
While Ricketts' work is selling at a different level, it could be a sign that more Philly artists will join the NFT trend.
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