BAG – Blockchain Art Gallery arrives, the blockchain technology company that offers solutions and opportunities for NFT artists from LATAM
Digital art is experiencing a moment of growth in Latin America thanks to the rise of NFTs that encourages new and established artists to reach the whole world with their art in a decentralized but at the same time secure way, thanks to blockchain technology that grants an unalterable property certificate. In turn, NFTs are paving the way for the generation of new experiences for users in different fields of entertainment.
This is how BAG – Blockchain Art Gallery arrives , with its first launch, an art NFT marketplace that seeks to accompany and connect Latin American artists with fans, creating a community where contemporary art can be experienced not only as a luxury good. for few but under the premise of well-being, where everyone can participate in a collaborative way to enjoy and live art freely.
The objective is to promote a more inclusive and decentralized access, thanks to the technology that allows culture to be merged with finance, thus charting the path of the future of art. The NFTs have empowered many artists by giving them the possibility of living off the art they create and giving people access to buy original works, which are often used as avatars on their social networks.
BAG’s proposal includes artbag.io , the largest Latin American digital art marketplace with 200 artists already booked. It was designed as a platform with intuitive, playful and orderly navigation where the works and artists are the protagonists, it is built on the Ethereum blockchain. In addition, BAG will soon launch new business units to experience music, shows and cultural events in new dimensions thanks to the possibilities added by NFTs that will be developed to power each action.
In its first round of investment, BAG managed to raise USD 1.5 million and was backed by important players in the crypto and finance ecosystem. Ripio, one of the leading exchanges in Latin America, is among the main investors, along with David García, leader of Borderless, one of the most important crypto funds and one of the earliest investors in this industry. They were also accompanied by renowned businessmen such as Eduardo Elzstain (President of the IRSA Group), Daniel Elsztain (CEO of the IRSA Group), Ariel Scaliter and Eduardo Novillo Astrada (Founders of Agrotoken) and investors from the art and blockchain industry.
BAG is also integrating with Ripio, so that more than 3 million users of the exchange can directly access the purchase of digital works. The possibility of buying through credit cards will also be provided.
“NFTs open up a whole new world of possibilities, not only are they going to transform the way we experience culture but they have also come to democratize access to digital art, among other things. NFTs allow anyone who has never bought art before to do so from a computer or cell phone. This caused the NFT art market to grow exponentially, reaching today to represent almost a fifth of the global art market. In 2021, transactions in this segment amounted to USD 13,000 million with just a couple of years of existence”, explains Martín González, CEO and Co-Founder of BAG – Blockchain Art Gallery.
DEMOCRATIZE ART
Everyone can enjoy art: The blockchain technology revolution was key to the explosion that NFTs are experiencing today in the art world. Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are digital assets that represent digital ownership of a virtual good, in this case digital art. This technology guarantees to identify the original part, in addition to offering traceability and information on all owners who have had an NFT since its creation. This gave a key boost to digital artists, by guaranteeing the uniqueness of the works but at the same time allowing thousands of people to access an original work at affordable prices, independently and safely, thus being able to experience art from a place of welfare. In BAG you can find the largest list of digital artists in Latin America.
All artists can make a living from art: In addition to the fact that digital art is revalued through NFTs, BAG introduces a key benefit for artists: the so-called “LAZY MINTING” , which means that artists do not have to invest and pay advance to register its pieces within the blockchain, but this process is carried out at the time the work is sold, with the buyer assuming the cost. This gives each artist the possibility of having a much broader portfolio of digital art, benefiting artists and buyers.
Everyone can vote and win: BAG brings a revolutionary concept that seeks to extend the limits of the traditional idea of contemporary art. In this marketplace, not only can you find a large catalog of artists and art lists (lists curated) by experts, but users themselves are invited to get involved in the valorization process. Those who participate in this initial decentralized instance (anyone can participate simply by connecting their wallet), can vote and rate the works of the artists and obtain rewards for this -the entire community participates in the distribution of 1% of the sale value-. Thus, the play to earn that was born in the gaming industry, is transferred to the world of art called art to earn, revolutionizing the industry through the construction of a collaborative exchange network between artists and the general public.
“The concept of NFT in art not only changes the way of living with a work but also makes the market grow exponentially. I think we are facing the birth of a new artistic avant-garde. Today many children learn to draw or model in 3d from a phone or a tablet. They conceive the technological possibilities and think about the work from another place. Without a doubt, the best is yet to come”, comments Ignacio Elffman, Product Director and Co Founder of BAG – Blockchain Art Gallery
FROM ARGENTINA TO THE WORLD
Blockchain Art Gallery was created by three Argentine professionals, who above all define themselves as great childhood friends. The three grew up together in Villa Elisa, La Plata and since school they share a solid friendship and as a result of talks and a common travel project, the idea of creating BAG was born within a conversation in a WhatsApp chat. In March 2021 , going through the second year of the pandemic, they developed the first paper of BAG – Blockchain Art Gallery.
Their complementary profiles gave impetus to the common goal of drawing a new paradigm within digital art. Martín González, CEO of BAG, is a hydraulic and civil engineer, but he is also a great connoisseur of finance, Bitcoin, DeFi and new technologies. Pablo De Sousa (CAO) is the director of the prestigious Argentine gallery Aldo de Sousa and the publishing house ADS, as well as the current president of Meridiano, the Argentine Chamber of Contemporary Art Galleries. The triad is completed by the graphic designer and art director, Ignacio Elffman (Product Director), who has been working with large consumer brands for more than a decade.
“We believe that we have a role that exceeds the need to monetize. It has to do with generating new habits, both for the art system and for the crypto system. We seek to have an overcoming attitude. Living with art is a unique and non-transferable experience, a work of art accompanies you, modifies you” , explains Pablo de Sousa, Chief Art Director (CAO) and Co-Founder of BAG – Blockchain Art Gallery.
The marketplace, www.artbag.io , was conceived as a platform with intuitive, playful and orderly navigation where the works and the artists are the protagonists.
