WELCOME TO THE "JUNGLE PUNK": Digital Art Curator 1OF1 Art Acquires Rare Ape CryptoPunk And Compares The Collection To Warhol’s Silkscreens
- Kyle
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 hours ago
A prolific Web3 art collecting group just made an over the counter purchase for a premier primate CryptoPunk that they’re calling the “Jungle Punk!”
The Yugaverse and broader Web3 world got a reminder that Punks are still Punks on Wednesday after digital art curator 1OF1 Art acquired CryptoPunk #6965 for an undisclosed amount.
CryptoPunk #6965 is a one attribute Ape type CryptoPunk with a fedora hat. Based on these traits, Punk #6965 is the 36th rarest CryptoPunk in the entire collection, according to Magic Eden.
“New Punk, who dis,” 1OF1 Art’s Founder Ryan Zurrer tweeted after the pickup. Welcome to the collection Punk 6965, we'll call you "Jungle Punk". We have a lot planned for you. @1OF1_art is a steward of iconic art works of the digital age."
Zurrer continued his post by comparing CryptoPunks’ place in the art world to Andy Warhol's silkscreens featuring iconic people like Marilyn Monroe.
“It will be as vital for contemporary art institutions to have Crypto Punks in their collections as it is to have Warhols today,” he tweeted. “I often compare Crypto Punks to Warhol's silkscreens, which began as portraiture of the bourgeoisie 'in the know' connected to the artist at the time. The works evolved into an iconic series that is central to art canon of the period. @cryptopunksnfts are the original representation of the advent of digital art provenance through NFTs and their durability both as online personas & as a historically important innovation in art, sets Crypto Punks up well to take their rightful place in art canon.”
Zurrer isn’t alone in thinking CryptoPunks are this generation’s Warhols.
As the Bored Ape Gazette previously reported, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami has CryptoPunk #305, dubbed “Virtual Lady” by the museum, on display next to Andy Warhol’s “American Lady” from his Society Portraits collection in an exhibit titled “Why Warhol.”
“Andy Warhol is fairly uncontested when it comes to the title of “Greatest Postmodern Portrait Artist.” His instantly iconic bright and bold silkscreen paintings depict the visages of any and everyone chic, famous, infamous or somewhere in between,” The ICA Miami wrote. “Warhol’s Society portraits were largely commissioned by their subjects as a kind of emblem for their status within the high society of cultural intelligentsia- one might argue they are precursors to the present-day phenomenon of prestigious PFPs. The series is uniform in format: all the paintings are square (40 X 40 in.) and display the subject from the shoulders up, reproducing their image using a combination of painterly and printing techniques. In showcasing #305 (aka. Virtual Lady) alongside Warhol’s (American Lady), our aim is to illuminate the various affinities- both aesthetic and conceptual- that exist between Warhol’s portrait painting practice and the CryptoPunks digital avatar collection.”
Making major moves in the digital art world is nothing new for 1OF1 Art. Since its founding in 2021, the group has collected works from 45 of Web3’s most notable artists and collections, including Beeple, Snowfro, RarePepe, and more.
“1OF1 is rooted in the belief that we stand at an unprecedented juncture in artistic expression,” the project explains on its website. “Driven by our nostalgia for the future, our ever expanding collection of 21st century artworks helps us understand today's world through the lens of tomorrow."
To find out more about 1OF1 or to check out their full NFT collection, visit their website here https://www.1of1.art
