The Out of Africa Collection, a first on the continent that sees a number of African artists making works exclusively available as unique non-fungible tokens (NFTs), has been bolstered with works by Norman O’Flynn and Olivié Keck.
The 118 unique piece collection consists of NFTs provided by local artists to promote them on a global platform on which they can sell their artworks, features the best of African fine art injected with innovative blockchain technology as part of the Invictus NFT Lab.
Acclaimed artist, Norman O’Flynn joins growing line-up for The Out of Africa NFT Collection
Prolific Cape Town based painter and sculptor, Norman O’Flynn, has become the latest critically-acclaimed artist to join the unique Out Of Africa Collection.
“Even though World Art, my representing gallery, has managed to stay consistent with sales and promoting my work during the pandemic, we are always looking for inventive ways to position art. They have always had a great online presence which has put more eyes on me than before. Of course, I miss the physical art fairs but that should resume before too long,” he says.
O’Flynn says that they saw the potential of NFTs in March last year, with him selling his first NFT in April.
“NFTs are providing an additional option for people to enjoy my work. It exposes my collection to a larger audience and adds another arrow in my quiver to promote my art. As such, I jumped at the opportunity to be part of The Out of Africa collection and appreciate this platform provided by Invictus,” says O’Flynn.
For his NFTs, O’Flynn drew inspiration from ‘The Image in the Mirror’ by Charl Bezuidenhout.
He painted the first Timekeeper portrait in 2015, and what started as an impromptu portrait of a friend, became much more as he added tattoo-like sketches and slogans relevant to this person’s life. He did more paintings similar in style and realised these images and slogans had less to do with the subject in the portrait and more to do with the world in which they live. It turned out to reflect what is happening right now. In other words, it reflected our time. And so, the Timekeeper series came to be.
Olivié Keck brings first animated NFT fine art to Out of Africa Collection
“People are purchasing art online much more since the onset of the pandemic. They are trusting these digital spaces as authorities in art and some prefer it to the experience of visiting a physical space. Things have been transitioning to this environment for a while, but Covid has certainly snowballed the movement,” says Cape Town-based Olivié Keck.
With Keck looking for an avenue to explore more digital and animation-based pieces in her practice, the opportunity to join The Out of Africa Collection could not have come at a better time.
“NFTs provide an opportunity to make these sorts of projects, like virtual reality and augmented reality, as valuable or collectable art objects available to a wider audience. As society shifts more towards a data-based economy, NFTs represent an interesting and creative re-imagining of the concept of ‘creativity.’ I think there is something quite inclusive and liberating about this new market that breaks free of some of the stigma and exclusivity around the art world,” she adds.
She hopes that NFTs such as The Out of Africa Collection will encourage more artists to explore digital mediums in their work. This could potentially lead to exciting, meaningful, and engaging new concepts in art.
“It is great to be part of this first African collection. It is like being a part of an exclusive museum collection and I think it is a signature moment for African art in the global market. It is great to represent a young voice in the choir of innovation.”
Listen to Olivie Keck’s podcast below to find out more:
For The Out of Africa Collection, Keck has created three animated artworks from physical paintings.
“I hope to bring reputation, established quality, and originality to the NFT art space. Making consistently innovative work with interesting concepts is something I have been doing for a long time. I feel that I bring an aesthetic skill and originality to this art space, and I care a lot about this new avenue. It is an extension of my artistic oeuvre and I want to create pieces with real merit and complexity.”
Considering that the materiality and aesthetics of her work commemorates the theatre of human experience whilst echoing her fascination with contemporary culture as explored through the lens of visual storytelling, The Out of Africa Collection provides Keck with the perfect platform to highlight her talents to a new type of audience.
Register your interest on invictusnftlab.com. Technical details are available in the Litepaper and the project’s progress can be tracked via Twitter and Facebook.