CRYPTO X EXPRESSIONISM
US-based expressionist artist Adam Disbrow held his first analog exhibition in 2014 at Alexander Salazar Fine Art in San Diego, and first learned about NFTs from a notorious gatekeeper of the traditional art space in London.
Internationally recognized, with paintings acquired by collectors worldwide, in 2021, Adam moved to pair the physical and digital to create singular pieces of NFT art. Adam’s moniker AD_AD comes from this intersection of long-established and new media art – Adam Disbrow Analog Digital.
“The true gold of NFT communities is the community itself,” Adam shares. “When I first got involved, I found an amazing art community that was international, totally global. It was a way to connect with people I hadn’t been able to meet before and collaborate with them in a new way.”
AD_AD’s work, which addresses issues of conflict, supremacy, harmony, and duality, begins with mixed media on canvas or linen – acrylics, oil, sand, graphite, charcoal, gilding, and silver leaf. He works extensively with symbols, which he feels convey information very quickly. His teammate Dan, a professional photographer documenting Adam’s work since the earliest days, images the work and the interplay between physical and digital begins as AD_AD overpaints, alters, and adds animation in an online art studio.
In 2022, AD_AD created the AIAD (Artificial Intelligence – Analog to Digital) exhibition, which began as a collection of collaborations on Objkt and was presented by Tears in the Rain Gallery in Voxels. AD_AD is one of the top collected artists on Objkt; his work is available on platforms such as SuperRare; and he has a limited edition drop with AlphaDoggg. AD_AD also contributes to the @money-clicc gang, a permanent community of artists and collectors.
AD_AD has been involved in cooperatives like SPAC, south of Washington, D.C., which he co-founded in 2014. He also curates a vault of work on SuperRare, “where there is infinite space for art. For future generations, it’s the best way to ensure the work gets into the hands of people who will truly appreciate it.”
“It begins and ends with appreciation. It begins with my appreciation for the ability to create something that I feel and ends with someone else appreciating it too. Many things happen in the cycle that can conflict with the creative process and alter it. So protect your creative space and remember that it begins and ends with appreciation.”