Celebrated Web3-based artist Claire Silver has collaborated London Unit to curate the gallery’s latest exhibition, E-movements.
The exhibition delves deeper into the relationship between artists and technology, especially those who collaborate with artificial intelligence and the community that brings.
Another underlying theme of the exhibition is the hikikomori phenomenon, a cultural movement that continues to spread across Japan and other parts of the world. The exhibition is brought to life through the lens of 26 different participating artists, five of whom we highlight below.
The concept
Hikikomori, which literally translates into English as drawing in or being confined, is considered a health crisis by officials in Japan, who define those suffering from it as individuals who have not left their homes or had social interaction for a period of time. six months or more.
Although hikikomori is specifically a Japanese phenomenon, parallels can be drawn with other countries and societies around the world that face similar pressures due to overwhelming information and the pressure to always perform at their best.
In E-movementsparticipating artists channel these feelings and bring them to life using a range of different AI programs, finding a silver lining in the broader experience of hikikomori and highlighting the complementary or community-like relationship that AI systems can provide.
The artists
Speaking tomato: Over-observation
Approaching the 16th year of her artistic journey, Turkey-based digital artist Speakingtomato specializes in creating surreal images that take camera portraits and make them dream-like. These images function as narratives of her life story and her own dreams.
The artist often uses AI as a starting point in her works, further refining the results manually using tools such as Photoshop, where she aims to bring together elements of modernism, surrealism and symbolism. In addition to being celebrated internationally for her works, Speakingtomato is also a member of MAIF and a passionate collector, having acquired more than 200 blockchain-based works.
In her work Over-observation, the artist says: “Boundless vistas of the internet unfold before us, offering a wealth of knowledge and experiences at our fingertips.” She further indicates that, in the midst of abundance, we walk a fine line between enlightenment and saturation and that the constant flow of information can often challenge our ability to absorb and reflect.
Over-observation was recently collected by Tinoch Chan.
Chelsea Jones: Beyond the horizon
Chelsea Jones is a self-taught artist with six years of experience in visual design and traditional oil painting. She explores the intersection of traditional painting techniques and modern technology, especially artificial intelligence, to create beautiful and surreal works of art that celebrate Black culture and personal stories. She wants to bring representation to the art world through playfulness, nostalgia, surrealism and the deep depths of black culture. Additionally, Jones is known to produce her AI-powered works as physical editions, further expanding the reach of her work.
In her work Beyond the horizon, Jones explores “a realm where the sky is woven with memories, high above the realm of reality,” where an explorer can be seen peering through what appears to be a huge window. Jones describes the work as a dive into the heart of nostalgia, with each pixelated memory and digital adventure whispering tales of an era gone by – but one that urges us to ‘dream again’.
Beyond the horizon can still be picked up at the time of writing.
Ilya Bliznets: Sketches in the woods
lya Bliznet is a Russian artist who creates figurative paintings and digital art using traditional materials, graphic editors and AI. His work is characterized by a painterly aesthetic and introspective, AI-generated pieces. He was part of the art group “Cosi o cosa” in 2017-2018 and has been active in the NFT space since 2022.
In his work Sketches in the woodsuses Bliznet’s AI to create images or moments that complement the visual range with digital painting and collage techniques. The work aims to convey a magical or surreal effect that reflects the state of a childish fantasy or dream state. Other themes featured in the work include introspection and observation on the part of the artist, but also extended as an invitation for the viewer to do the same.
The work has recently been collected by Tyler Hobbs.
Szkandal: Specific
Skandals, a Ukrainian-born, Poland-based new media artist, started out as a self-taught traditional artist before exploring AI-generated art in 2022. His work incorporates themes of chaos, disorder and the duality of humanity through graphic, illustrative images. inspired by graphic novelists such as Druillet, Moebius and Spiegelman. His art often involves intricate fictional architectural and natural environments, designed to encourage deep viewer involvement.
In his work SpecificExpressing the interplay of light and shadow, Skandals shares that the intention is for the hard lines of the concrete to appear softened as the sun dances across them, revealing a ‘hidden elegance’ – allowing the monolithic structures to become living sculptures.
The work has recently been collected by DrLeeNFT.
Tomeo: dark room
Tomeo, a digital artist and philosophy graduate from the Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon, analyzes hauntology and memory using metaphysical interpretations of AI-generated environments. He previously worked in graphic design and JavaScript programming, but switched to generative art, inspired by photography and film. By using AI and various generative techniques, he creates images with animated stories, such as dark roomwhich, according to him, comes from a series of works about images from the past that slip from memory.
The work has recently been collected by The Night Fox.
Discover all the other works in Claire Silver’s curated exhibition E-movements presented by Unit London here.