USURPA: SA’s First Fine Art NFT Gallery

WORDS Cheri Morris

Johnannesburg’s USURPA Gallery opens The New Medium group exhibition of NFTs featuring twelve South African artists, including the likes of Seth Pimentel, Baba Tjeko, Naledi Modupi, and Mark Draws. It’s a revolutionary dialogue between tech and fine art, but not in the way you might think.

If you’re scoffing at the idea of NFTs (non-fungible tokens, or digital assets based on blockchain technology) being called ‘fine art’, keep reading. First, the basics: An NFT, at its core, is a digital certificate of ownership of art. So, just like you can own a one-of-a-kind physical painting, an NFT is the ownership of a piece of digital art. The provenance of each work can be captured on the blockchain, and secured through individual smart codes.

What’s special about USURPA’s move is that they’ve taken the somewhat intimidating concept of digital art from the constraints of computer/phone screens and translated it into a physical space that connects artists with art lovers, and NFTs with interior design and decor. But that’s not the coolest part. There’s something new, something anticipatory about these NFTs.

Featured works have been adapted from either a physical or a static digital form into dynamic artworks that breathe life into each line, hue and expression. But unlike GIFs or clips, the dynamic artworks aren’t just animated loops. Rather, they subtly introduce meditative movements that enhance the original piece.

“Imagine you have a stunning image of a lake on your wall and, just once a year, a sea creature makes an appearance in the lake. There are now so many more layers of the artist’s narrative that can be explored,” explains USURPA CEO Steve Tanchel.

These digitised, ‘blockchain-ed’ renders are showcased on crisp Samsung Frame Technology. Screens that revolutionise the textural and experiential capabilities of NFTs, bringing the timelessness of fine art into collision with the spectres of intangible art.

Headed by Tanchel, USURPA co-founders Adam Trope, multidisciplinary Artist Kay Kay Ribane, CFO Michael Salomon, Artist and Creative Director Zelé Angelides and Software Engineer Devon Jacobson, the exhibition is a masterclass in African tenacity. One that drives a narrative change in both the concept of art and how African art can be projected to the world. USURPA’s sole mission is to empower African artists through a decentralised platform that introduces digital art as a modern form of fine-art investment.

The full list of artists incudes:

• Sinalo Ngcaba
• Mncedi Madolo,
• Nene Mahlangu
• Mark Draws
• vonMash
• Oliver Pohorille
• Terence Maluleke
• Samurai Farai
• Navel Seakamela.
• Seth Pimentel
• Baba Tjeko
• Naledi Modupi

The New Medium is currently on show at USURPA in Riviera until 1 June 2023. The gallery is open to visitors from Tuesday to Friday between 10h00 and 17h00, and by appointment only on Saturdays. For more info, visit usurpa.africa.

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