Is Art An Asset or An Investment?

Naples, FL: (October 25, 2021) . . . Global art consultant Emillions Art founder Marlissa Gardner unveiled the first-ever NFT launch with the original fine artwork in Naples, Florida with a 32-second movie of contemporary digital artist Robin Austin’s larger-than-life photo mosaic portrait of a young Frank Sinatra in a 1938 police mug shot featuring more than 3,000 individual exploding images of little photo squares Austin assembled to make light, shadow, and color in the portrait.

Ms. Gardner revealed the NFT, the latest trend in cryptocurrency investment, at the conclusion of her presentation that opened the Is Art An Asset or An Investment? exhibition now open in Emillions Art’s showroom on the second floor of the 837 building on fashionable 5^th Avenue South.

The NFT (non-fungible token) is a digital token that provides the owner with absolute rights over a unique asset of value (physical or digital) including a record showing who owns a unique piece of digital content, like the way a title shows who owns a particular car.

“NFTs are associated with many different blockchains, but the predominant chain currently in use is the Ethereum blockchain,” explains Ms. Gardner. Ethereum is also a cryptocurrency, like bitcoin or dogecoin, but its blockchain also supports NFTs through smart contracts that makes it different, she adds.

Is Art An Asset or An Investment? exhibition explores how art changes with time and why the rise in NFTs is meaningful today. Sponsored by Dentons Cohen & Grigsby Law Firm, the exhibition is open for public viewing Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am until 5 pm, through October 30^th and by appointment.

Is Art An Asset or An Investment? displays more than two dozen spectacular representations and original paintings and traces the evolution of art investment from the Old Masters (artists from the 1300s up to the 1800s) to the rebirth of classical culture in the early and high Renaissance (1400-1500) with artworks by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael to the splendor and flourish for God during the Baroque period (1600-1750) when artists like Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens and Caravaggio weren’t afraid to use color and movement in their work. The exhibition also includes modern masterworks by Alexander Calder and contemporary masterworks from Dario Campanile, Layla Love and John Robbolino and Austin’s first-ever NFT.

Austin’s photographic mosaics reflect his love and devotion to storytelling. As the head creative for his own branding firm, he told the stories of his clients. Now in his second career, he expands on the stories of some of the twentieth century’s biggest contributors to a shared cultural heritage in addition to Sinatra such as Mick Jagger, the Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Nelson Mandela, and many others. His process begins with painstaking research to collect thousands of photographs which will form the mosaic “tiles” of his pieces. The work is then “baked” onto an aluminum sheet through the process of dye sublimation. Each tile is a work, but then each makes up a larger whole, creating large-scale portraiture that is almost a twist on “iconography.” His work can be viewed online at: https://emillionsart.com/artists/contemporary-artists/robin-austin/.

Ms. Gardner travels the world to negotiate rare masterworks for the discerning collector.  She continues to expand the Emillions Art network, creating international partnerships with esteemed gallerists, curators and collectors in the US, Europe and the Middle East. As an authority in fine art asset management, Emillions Art has developed a core collective of leading experts in art appraisals, art history, scientific forensics analysis, authentication, provenance, gallery exhibition, insurance, and other professionals to create a full slate of art industry services catering to ambitious buyers and collectors.

For more information, www.emillionsart.com; follow on Instagram @emillionsart or call (239) 687-3101.