Announcing Our Pace Verso Winter 2022 Program

Pace is pleased to detail the winter 2022 NFT releases as part of the program for (opens in a new window) Pace Verso, the gallery’s hub for Web3 projects. Launched in November 2021, Pace Verso reflects the gallery’s commitment to supporting the advanced studio practices of artists within and beyond its program. The platform is helmed by Online Sales Director Christiana Ine-Kimba Boyle, and its inaugural presentations spotlighted NFTs by Lucas Samaras, Glenn Kaino, and DRIFT artists Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta with Don Diablo.

The upcoming Pace Verso program will feature NFTs by Samaras and Zhang Huan. The gallery’s presentation of these boundary-pushing digital artworks aligns with its history of championing innovative, technologically engaged artists.

Following its successful presentation of NFTs by Kaino and DRIFT at Art Basel Miami Beach 2021, Pace will spotlight NFTs at in-person fairs in Los Angeles and Hong Kong during the upcoming season. The gallery will show digital work by Zhang at the 2022 edition of Art Basel Hong Kong.

Beyond Pace Verso, artist Leo Villareal launched Cosmic Reef, his first series of NFTs, on the platform Art Blocks on January 24. Through unique combinations of geometry, color, light, and composition, this series explores beauty and randomness in the natural world. Following its drop on Art Blocks, the series sold out within two hours.

As part of a collaboration with Art Blocks, the gallery will present work from Cosmic Reef in its booth at Frieze Los Angeles this year. Following the fair, Pace and Art Blocks will partner on a series of online talks hosted on Twitter and Discord—this program will kick off in spring 2022 with a conversation between Pace President and CEO Marc Glimcher and Art Blocks Founder and CEO Erick Calderon.

Christiana Ine-Kimba Boyle says:

“The launch of Pace Verso has been marked with incredible success. Our pioneering efforts within Web3 align with the gallery's established history of championing artists who consistently engage with technology and challenge the status quo through their advanced studio practices. I am incredibly excited to lead a platform so deeply rooted in forging a path forward for artists both within and outside Pace's network.”

Winter 2022 Program

Lucas Samaras

On January 26, the second drop of NFTs derived from Lucas Samaras’s XYZ series will be available on Pace Verso. This presentation follows the platform’s initial drop of XYZ NFTs in November 2021, and the digital artworks in the latest suite are priced at $20,000 each. Each NFT is accompanied by a physical 11 x 17-inch framed print. These works are dated 2012/2021 to reflect their original format and later transformation into NFTs.

Samaras is considered a pioneer of photography and digital art. His early manipulations of Polaroids and fantastical experimentations with digital media have positioned him at the cutting-edge of image-making. The artist’s XYZ series comprises four bodies of work created between 2010 and 2012 depicting vibrant, psychedelic abstractions.

(opens in a new window) Lucas Samaras on Pace Verso

Leo Villareal and Art Blocks

On January 24, Leo Villareal launched his first series of NFTs, titled Cosmic Reef, on the platform Art Blocks. Cosmic Reef comprises 1,024 unique digital works that draw on an infinite array of sequences in the natural world. Layered geometries in the works, which explore beauty and randomness in nature, are the result of a combination of human control and computational chance.

As part of a collaboration with Art Blocks, Pace will show work from Cosmic Reef at the 2022 edition of Frieze L.A. This spring, following the fair, Pace and Art Blocks will host a series of online talks on Twitter and Discord. Presented over the course of several weeks, this robust online program will focus on NFTs, generative art, and more.

Villareal is known for technologically engaged works that often incorporate custom code and investigate the phenomenological effects of light. The artist has created monumental public works and immersive environments that explore the subjectivity of visual experiences.

(opens in a new window) Leo Villareal on Art Blocks

Zhang Huan

On Pace Verso, we are pleased to present Zhang Huan's Celestial Burial. Four editions of Celestial Burial, which is informed by Zhang’s storied New York performance in a suit made of meat, will be available on March 17. Each edition is made up of hundreds of pixelated, miniature meat men created and customized by the 2,500 players who participated in Zhang’s recent The Celestial Burial of an Artist project, which was co-produced with the digital platform EchoX. The works will be priced at $20,000 each.  

Zhang is known worldwide for his performances, paintings, photographs, and sculptures. The artist’s work often engages with Buddhism as well as social and political subjects.