Sotheby’s Auction
Rainbow Shift — Alexa Meade and Alli Harvard

New York City, September 30 - October 8, 2021

Sotheby's will be auctioning Alexa's art as part of the Boundless Space auction.

For the video art piece Rainbow Shift, Alexa Meade painted on collaborator Alli Harvard’s face to turn her into a living, 2D painting. Rainbows were projected onto her, using prisms and mirrors to bend the light. ​A still photo taken by Mike Monaghan was then animated to create a haunting feeling of ascension.

Produced in collaboration with the Burning Man Project, the funds raised will help ensure the not-for-profit’s long-term survival and fund their Arts and Civic Engagement programs.

View the Boundless Space Sotheby’s Auction

View the Color of Reality NFTs on Nifty Gateway.

— Why I create NFTs —

Before NFTs, my living paintings have been impossible to collect in a format that supports motion -- except, of course, for private in-person performances. With NFTs, my paintings come to life in a way that was not previously accessible to collectors. The technology has enabled me to explore the digital realm for my video art without sacrificing scarcity or verifiable ownership.

My career as an artist has been a non-traditional one. I am both a self-taught and self-managed artist. From my own experience, I am acutely aware of the limitations that can be imposed by the art world establishment. The restrictions placed on artists by creative and financial intermediaries oftentimes stifle growth and exploration. My success and creativity as an artist took off after I was able to break free from a particularly restrictive gallery contract. Since then, I have had the great fortune to see my artwork exhibited around the world at the Grand Palais in Paris, the United Nations in New York, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo, and elsewhere.

A decade ago, I was introduced to the concepts of crypto and blockchain technology by chance. A friend gifted me a Bitcoin in 2011, at the value of $12. As I observed the crypto ecosystem growing, I became intrigued by the fundamental concept of disintermediation -- in other words, enabling individuals to interact with one another outside of the restrictions of a middleman. Until the growth of NFTs, however, the value proposition of disintermediation was largely restricted to the emerging ecosystems of decentralized finance.

NFTs have created unprecedented opportunities for creators. This digital medium doesn’t just rewrite the rules of how artists communicate with their audience, but also how they express themselves creatively. I see NFTs as more than just taking the kinds of art that we already know of today and putting it online -- I see it as a whole new canvas for a movement.

— NFTs Will Change the Future of Art —

Red or Blue Pill? — Alexa Meade // Sheila Vand

For the NFT animation Red or blue pill?, Alexa Meade painted on the body of performance artist Sheila Vand while she was submerged in a pool of milk. Moment by moment, red and blue paint dissolved away from Sheila's body, swirling into a milky cosmos.

The Alexa // Sheila collaboration explores the fluidity of identity by creating an ever evolving, ephemeral form of portraiture. As the lines that define the body and the surrounding space break down into the milk, we see that there is more beneath the surface than our perceptions would initially lead us to believe.

This artwork has had a significant pop cultural impact.

Red or blue pill? was the inspiration for Alexa Meade painting Ariana Grande in an abstract bath for the "God Is A Woman" music video, which has over 300 million views. Process photography of Sheila Vand in Red or blue pill? made the front page of Reddit and was upvoted to #1.  In her widely-viewed TED Talk, Alexa Meade provided an in-depth exploration of the Alexa // Sheila work of art.

View the Alexa // Sheila NFT on OpenSea.io

Dimensions of Being — The NFT Genesis Collection

View the genesis collection on Foundation.app/alexameade