The pantheon of pseudonymous NFT collectors options no scarcity of enigmatic characters, however few benefit from the crypto-native cult following of Vincent Van Dough.
Thought to be a serious proponent of the digital artwork ecosystem, the 2023 NFT100 honoree is well-known for his NFT spending sprees and eclectic tasks, which now embody the web3 gallery Artwork of This Millennium (AOTM), the Notable Pepes collection, TungstenDAO, and extra.
Whereas he has been lively in crypto since 2013 and was among the many unique claimers of CryptoPunks, Van Dough’s present alias dates again to 2021. In an interview that yr, he claims to have spent over $20 million on NFTs.
It’s becoming that Van Dough’s digital id is extra fluid than lots of his contemporaries. There’s no recognizable CryptoPunk to hold your hat on. It’s an ever-shifting array of avatars that each one in some way carry the identical memetic power, from a tuxedoed Pepe the Frog and Che-Yu Wu’s Sea Hams to the “Moonbirds” he made to troll Kevin Rose. You realize it while you see it.
As a collector, Van Dough can distill his thesis right into a easy assertion: “Collect pieces of art that resonate.”
“Beyond just aesthetics, it is a combination of intuition and knowledge of internet culture, identifying promising artists, keeping a pulse on the contemporary art landscape, and always being on the lookout for art that has a fresh and unique perspective,” he tells nft now. “Collecting isn’t a job for me; it is something that I genuinely derive meaning and fulfillment from.”
“Collect pieces of art that resonate.”
Vincent van dough
Whereas amassing will not be a job to him, others have sought to enlist his funding method. In August 2021, Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, the founders of now-defunct crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, tapped Van Dough to curate a $100 million NFT fund known as Starry Evening Capital.
Within the following months, Van Dough helped the fund amass a formidable assortment of blue-chip NFTs, together with tasks like CryptoPunks, Deafbeef, and Autoglyphs, 1/1 artwork by XCOPY, Alpha Centauri Child, and Grant Yun, and notable Artwork Blocks items by Tyler Hobbs, Dmitri Cherniak, and Snowfro.
Sadly, Three Arrows Capital declared chapter in July 2022 following the Terra Luna collapse, and Starry Evening’s assortment is at the moment entangled in liquidation proceedings. In an October 2022 submitting, consulting agency Teneo cited Van Dough’s cooperation in serving to them account for and take possession of Starry Evening’s property.
“I bought a bunch of jpegs for them and curated the Starry Night Capital collection,” Van Dough commented on Twitter. “That is the extent of our affiliation.”
Given the expertise, it’s no shock that Van Dough’s subsequent chapter would sign a brand new path by prioritizing direct engagement with the artists he champions.
A Web3-native gallery mannequin
Launched in November 2022 and powered by Manifold, Artwork of This Millennium is a digital gallery with a star-studded artist roster that includes the likes of Cath Simard, Claire Silver, Drift, FVCKRENDER, IX Shells, and plenty of extra.
For such an irreverent iconoclast, one could also be stunned to listen to Van Dough admit that the enterprise was “born from the idea that there was a lot to learn from the traditional art world.”
“Artists today have to run full-scale businesses independently: from creating pieces to managing auctions, maintaining relationships with both existing and potential new collectors, showing their work and process, engaging in interviews, and the list goes on,” he explains. “It is impossible for one person to manage. We saw a world where a gallery could come and work hand-in-hand with artists.”
Not like conventional artwork galleries, which may take as much as 50 % of gross sales, AOTM takes a flat 15 % fee. Van Dough has additionally pledged to honor a ten % secondary gross sales royalty for artists no matter “where or how any pieces are sold.”
“The term ‘NFT’ is too broad of a term and, unfortunately, a lot of groundbreaking art has been tossed into this encompassing word that has become synonymous with flipping and trading.”
Vincent van dough
By providing vertically-integrated providers to modern digital artists — together with curation, promotion, technique, exhibitions, gross sales, and legacy planning, in addition to leveraging collector relationships inside and outdoors web3 — Van Dough hopes to additional differentiate the digital artwork market from the remainder of the NFT house.
“The term ‘NFT’ is too broad of a term, and unfortunately, a lot of groundbreaking art has been tossed into this encompassing word that has become synonymous with flipping and trading,” he laments. “We view AOTM as a home for artists, collectors, and patrons who value art for its aesthetic and cultural significance rather than short-term monetary worth.”
In talking to artists on the AOTM roster, constant themes emerge across the respect they’ve for Van Dough and the help and steering he has given them.
“I’ll never forget when he first tweeted about me after collecting my work ‘Right Click Print.’ It changed my life,” remembers Alpha Centauri Child. “I think he’s a standout collector because he isn’t afraid to show his conviction in the artists he believes in. He truly just wants to help push art forward.”
Grant Yun credit Van Dough’s early help with giving him crucial momentum, praising the collector’s “depth of knowledge” and “willingness to mature this space.”
“I am confident in the work VVD does and trust his vision,” Yun says. “I truly believe that a level of curation is required in web3 to help guide non-crypto demographics and to help open their eyes to the amazing range of artists this space has to offer.”
Different World provides: “Personally, he’s a down-to-earth guy who’s given me sound advice anytime I’ve asked, which has been a great help for my career in this new and constantly changing space.”
As Van Dough continues to construct out AOTM, he has plans to determine a bodily footprint for the gallery and an upcoming public sale that includes a choice of rising artists.
“The crypto NFT market can often be volatile and rapidly evolving,” he cautions. “We must think about what is best for our artists reputationally from a long-term horizon, not just what will be a hot narrative for the short term.”
Purveyor of Pepe
Van Dough’s on-line persona is inextricably linked to Pepe the Frog, Matt Furie’s iconic 2005 cartoon character who has develop into one of many web’s most enduring and oft-misunderstood memes.
An avid collector of the early and influential CounterParty venture Uncommon Pepes, Van Dough has lengthy been a patron of Pepe-inspired artwork. Final July, Van Dough curated a collection of the latter-day CounterParty venture Pretend Rares, commissioning the likes of DeeKay and Seerlight for Pepe tributes. Given the venture’s historic ties to the earliest days of blockchain artwork, Van Dough felt honored to assist usher in a brand new technology of artists.
“Pepe the Frog is an iconic meme that represents the culture of the internet. It is truly our Mickey Mouse figurehead,” Van Dough gushes. “Pepe represents the power of the internet to shape and influence our perceptions of the world.”
“Pepe the Frog is an iconic meme that represents the culture of the internet. It is truly our Mickey Mouse figurehead.”
Vincent van dough
Because it occurs, the Pretend Rares collection would show to be foreshadowing for Van Dough’s personal Pepe venture. After Jack Butcher’s rebel Checks phenomenon sparked an open version craze on the prime of the yr, he launched his personal model known as Pepe Checks. Supplied at a $6.90 value level, his open version “exceeded all expectations,” elevating greater than $1.6 million in 24 hours.
“It all happened essentially overnight,” Van Dough admits. “I saw an opportunity to make a piece of art and a meme that felt like the right commentary in response to Jack Butcher’s Checks, and the community just ran with it.”
“It really shows how people want to collect items that resonate with them and how Pepe is one of the most recognized figures on the internet,” he provides. “The Checks leveraged the collective humor and creativity of the internet – it’s quite beautiful.”
One week later, Van Dough introduced his new venture entitled Notable Pepes. Bringing a brand new twist to the traditional Uncommon Pepes and Pretend Rares mannequin, every Pepe Test acts like a lottery ticket giving holders an opportunity to mint weekly Pepe artwork drops. The gathering has already featured playing cards by Uncommon Pepe OGs like Joe Looney and Uncommon Scrilla, alongside modern up-and-comers like Terrell Jones and batz. On this approach, Van Dough goals to “bridge the gap” between the Pepe communities on CounterParty and Ethereum.
“We brought a majority of the OG Rare Pepe and Fake Rare artists over to Notable Pepes, and we also invited prominent ETH artists to create Notable Pepe cards,” he says. “The response has been incredibly positive, and the meme is stronger than ever. People wanted a way to collect and interact with the Pepe community in a way that was familiar to them and ETH-native.”
You suppose memes are your ally?
You merely adopted the memes. We had been born in them, molded by them. We didn’t see the sunshine till we had been already uncommon, by then it was nothing however dankness.
Introducing @notablepepes…
— VincentVanDough (@Vince_Van_Dough) February 12, 2023
At a time when the $PEPE meme coin is dominating the charts and dialog, Van Dough’s memetic knowledge feels particularly prescient.
“There is this saying, ‘There is a Pepe for everything,’” he concludes. “It is so true. The Pepe community is one of the most resilient communities; people are collecting through bull markets and bear markets, supporting meme culture and art.”
