New CryptoPunks NFT Collection Unravels After Reaction to ‘Woke’ Artwork

But the first attempt, unveiled on Monday with the launch of a new NFT collection under the Punks brand, he faced immediate backlash from collectors and crypto observers alike – including claims of ‘woke’ artwork, sometimes accompanied by personal attacks on the artist. Now Yuga turns around and apparently abandons future plans.

Artist Nina Chanel Abney was previously named the first selection for the Punk in Residence program and unveiled her new collection, ‘Super Punk World’, this weekend. Following an opening event at The School at Jack Shainman Gallery in New York, Yuga Labs and Abney unveiled the planned NFTs on Monday.

The Punk in Residence program is designed to generate on-chain collaborations that foster creative experimentation around the project and NFTs more broadly. Abney’s limited-edition digital collectibles embrace her bold style and perspective, reimagining iconic CryptoPunk hallmarks through her own vision.

Nina Chanel Abney (center) with original CryptoPunks creators John Watkinson (left) and Matt Hall (right) of Larva Labs. Photo: Yuga Labs

“CryptoPunks are an iconic, groundbreaking project that has played a pivotal role in creating the digital collecting space,” Abney shared. Declutter prior to the exhibition. “Working with them, I saw an opportunity to be at the center of a unique intersection of art, technology and culture.”

Having previously released a digital art collection titled “Super Cool World” through the Pharrell Williams-backed Gallery of Digital Assets (GODA), Abney is no stranger to expanding her work into the medium. For “Super Punk World,” a 500-piece avatar collection, she hand-selected each of the avatars from more than 10,000 outputs.

Randomly generated and then hand-curated by Abney, this collection is inspired by iconic CryptoPunks signatures and Super Cool World signatures. Each attribute was hand cut by Abney and digitized to create 195 unique 3D sculpted attributes based on 25 personas. Set against colorful backdrops inspired by her previous works and printing techniques, these characters embody Abney’s aesthetic and pay tribute to the irreverent, early Web3 roots of the CryptoPunks project.

“What we wanted to do was introduce wallets and generative art, and Web3 and NFTs, to this more traditional art audience and group of collectors,” Nathalie Stone, General Manager and Brand Lead of CryptoPunks, told me. Declutter last week.

A photo of the “Super Punks World” exhibition. Photo: Yuga Labs

“We’re trying to bring CryptoPunks to the masses here in a sense,” Stone added, “but also get them to understand why digital ownership is important.”

Abney’s digital worldview reflects on virtual versus real identities, addressing the price differences between digital avatars based on gender and skin color. White, male avatars typically generate higher secondary sales prices than their darker or female counterparts in prominent NFT collections.

Her hybridized figures combine racial components and aim to blur the boundaries between male and female, challenge societal views of inherent worth, and push viewers to confront their implicit biases.

However, after Abney’s riff on CryptoPunks was revealed earlier Monday, the project received significant backlash on social media.

Some commentators have focused on the art style itself or the concept of even attempting to reimagine an iconic project, while others have leveled “woke” accusations for its emphasis on race and gender. sparking debates about the intersection of art, identity and digital culture.

It has also received negative attention for diluting the original Punks collection, with some collectors upset that Yuga Labs is trying to expand a project considered a valuable, “blue chip” Ethereum NFT set.

Yuga Labs initially declined comment Declutter Once the backlash started, but early Monday evening, company CEO Greg “Garga” Solano tweeted a statement. The NFT was initially planned to be auctioned, but will now be distributed to Super Cool World NFT holders in some way, possibly via a ‘randomized airdrop’. And it seems that there will be no follow-up initiative for an artist residency, at least not in the same way.

“Yuga will no longer touch the Punks,” he wrote. “They will simply be decentralized and stored on the blockchain. All we want to do is support a number of museums and institutions in their quest to acquire a punk and inform their public about it.”

Abney confirmed Solano’s statement in a tweet and thanked Yuga Labs for supporting her art and helping get the pieces into the hands of her holders, but then denounced the hateful attacks sent to her on social media as a result of the project’s revelation.

“I am deeply disgusted by some racist, sexist, homophobic, [and] transphobic comments that the controversy surrounding this project has brought to light,” she wrote.

“What is really in the underbelly of this room?” Abney continued. “More than ever, I will continue my mission toward an inclusive community where everyone is accepted and ideas that spark productive dialogue are welcomed. No hatred will be tolerated.”