Christie’s is presenting its Non-Fungible Token (NFT) auction – ‘Cartography of the Mind’ – to raise funds for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).
Featuring leading artists in the psychedelic and NFT spaces, the auction will offer collectors a chance to bid on more than two dozen NFTs. Funds raised will be donated to MAPS to support the legalisation of potentially life-saving psychedelic therapies.
The auction is being held in collaboration with Ryan Zurrer, founder of Dialectic – a Swiss capital enterprise for the deployment of financial capital into alternative assets – and Vine Ventures, which invests in the emerging psychedelics sector.
As well as the likes of Refik Anadol and Mad Dog Jones, the auction will feature work from Alex Grey – one of the world’s leading visionary artists and creator of Entheon, Sanctuary of Visionary Art at CoSM – who earlier this year released his first NFTs.
It will also feature Beeple – the digital artist who shot to fame after his NFT ‘Everydays: The First 5000 Days’ sold for a massive $69.3m through Christie’s. More recently, Beeple has collaborated with Madonna to create the NFT ‘Mother of Nature’.
MAPS founder and executive director, Rick Doblin, Ph.D., commented: “There is an intrinsic connection between the psychedelic community and art.
“Art is often used to integrate psychedelic experiences, transcending language, culture, and experience to communicate what words simply cannot.
“We are honoured to work with Christie’s and have these talented artists participate in the NFT fundraiser in support of MAPS.”
Further artists featured in the auction are IX Shells, Maxim Zhestkov, Sam Spratt, WLOP, Maciej Kuciara, Sarah Meyohas, David Choe, Brendan Dawes, Ash Thorp, Archan Nair, Dangiuz, Jake Fried, Andrés Reisenger, Six n Five, Forgotten Runes Wizard Cult, Toomuchlag, Victor Mosquera, Tom Sachs, Joshua Davis, Fvckrender, Casey Reis, Dustin Yellin and Justin Aversano.
Zurrer commented: “We are deeply honoured that such an extraordinary collection of digital artists have come together for psychedelic science.”
Christie’s Head of Digital Art, Noah Davis, said: “Working closely with Ryan and co. to assemble the radical art in Cartography of the Mind has been a blast. MAPS is an organization which has benefited an incredible array of people, many of them artists, and I’m ecstatic to know that proceeds from this auction will go towards furthering their mission.”
The sale will be open for bidding online on christies.com from 21 to 28 June, 2022.
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