Prince Jacon Osinachi Igwe (born in 1991 in Aba,

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

), commonly known as Osinachi, is a Nigerian visual and digital artist. He is known for using Microsoft Word as his medium. Described as "Africa's foremost crypto artist," Osinachi is regarded as the first African artist to have his work digitally auctioned as an NFT by

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

in Europe."

Career

Osinachi entered the crypto art scene in 2017. In 2020, he held his debut solo show, ''Osinachi: Existence as Protest'', at the Kate Vasse Galerie in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. In 2021, Osinachi garnered attention for selling $75,000 worth of NFTs in 10 days. Osinachi partnered with the

Mohamed Amin Mohamed Amin (29 August 1943 – 23 November 1996) was a Kenyan photojournalist. Amin's filming of Michael Buerk's report of the 1984 Ethiopian famine brought international attention to the crisis and eventually helped start the charity wave t ...

Foundation to release NFTs for a catalog featuring 2.5 million photographs and more than 5,000 hours of video content. The project launched $Afrofuture, an Ethereum-based social currency. Osinachi's work has been described as "engagingly political, drawing from conversations on political matters, gender, tradition and race." Writing about the art market in 2020, curator Jason Bailey called Osinachi "the best of what the coming generation of artists has to offer." In 2021, 1-54 and

collaborated in an online auction of Osinachi's series ''Different Shades of Water'', making him the first African NFT artist to be featured. The series was inspired by

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...

's 1972 painting

Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) ''Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)'' is a large acrylic-on-canvas pop art painting by British artist David Hockney, completed in May 1972. It measures , and depicts two figures: one swimming underwater and one clothed male figure ...

. The artworks were displayed at

Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...

. On January 30, 2024, his artwork ''"Take the Stares"'', previously owned by 3AC, was auctioned at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

and sold for $20,320.

Exhibitions

* ''Osinachi: Existence as Protest'' at Kate Vasse Galerie, Zurich * ''Different Shades of Water'' at Somerset House with Christie's and 1-54, London

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osinachi Nigerian artists Living people 1991 births Digital artists