$69M digital art revolution

Elon Musk charging into battle atop a Trump-like warlord.

 

Kamala Harris basking in a pool of coconuts.

 

These are the musings of Mike Winkelmann, a Charleston-based digital artist with 2 million followers and a gallery full of NFTs off Clements Ferry Road.

 

Better known in the art world as Beeple, Winkelmann doesn’t immediately strike you as a groundbreaking artist whose work has sold for millions. 

 

Dressed in a business-casual pullover and slicked-to-the-side hair above a pair of rectangular glasses, he looks like a 40-something dad who spends a lot of time on the computer. Which, well, he does.

 

Yet his work made history as the first purely digital, non-fungible token artwork ever auctioned by a major auction house. (Think of an NFT like a digital certificate of authenticity with a unique code stored on a blockchain, proving its originality and who owns it).

 

Beeple made headlines in the early days of the NFT boom when he sold his piece “Everydays: The First 5,000 Days” for $69.3 million in a Christie’s auction, a 256-year-old global auction house renowned for selling works by the likes of Picasso and Da Vinci.

 

The piece, a collage of 5,000 digital images created daily over more than 13 years, remains one of the most expensive NFTs ever sold to date.

 

“It was surreal – completely insane, honestly,” Winkelmann remembered. “It started as a way to improve my skills by creating something every single day, but I never imagined it would grow into what it is now. I was grateful but also deeply humbled by the moment it represented in art history.” 

 

Don’t confuse his humility with being shy. The Wisconsin native turned Charleston resident has spent over two decades creating art that pushes boundaries.  

 

His art, which he continues to produce everyday – “no exception” – explores the absurdity of modern culture, blending satire, surrealism, and cutting-edge technology to create provocative pieces that capture the zeitgeist. His works often toe the line between absurdity and sharp social commentary, holding a mirror up to the chaotic world of politics, celebrity, and culture. Other pieces are just for fun. 

 

“The world is a bit insane, and I like to reflect that chaos and absurdity,” he said. “It’s a way to process and critique what’s happening and where that might eventually lead us in 30 to 50 years.” 

 

The artist’s quirky moniker stems from a childhood toy, the Beeple, which he felt carried a “computery ring” – perfect for his burgeoning career in the early 2000s, when the world began transitioning to a new age of technology. Since then, Beeple’s visuals have been showcased in some unexpected places: on Super Bowl screens, at Justin Bieber concerts, in Imagine Dragons album art, and even on a Louis Vuitton runway.

 

In 2023, he took his vision further by opening a massive 50,000-square-foot studio on Clements Ferry Road. The space includes a 13,000-square-foot gallery and an experiential area designed to bridge the gap between digital and physical art.

 

“I wanted a space to push the boundaries of digital art and create a hub for collaboration where people could come together to learn about and enjoy digital art,” he said.

 

Walking through Beeple Studios is like falling into Alice’s digital wonderland. Artifacts of Beeple’s imagination litter the space: Kim Jong-Un directs a military mission with the torso of Buzz Lightyear accompanied by massive breasts. Jeff Bezos’ head spews out Amazon trucks to a dystopian world. Three Baby Yodas dismember and eat Jabba the Hutt in one. 

 

“None of these little things were generated,” Winkelmann explained, pointing at a massive Mark Zuckerburg head, overtaken by a blood-dripping brain and pieces of torn flesh on the floor. “They were all specifically placed.” 

 

The gallery also houses “Everydays,” his iconic 5,000-piece collage. Up close, Winkelmann can remember every thought and cultural moment that went into each piece. From afar, it blurs into a chaotic mosaic.

 

“It’s information overload,” he said. “To me, it’s indicative of the times we live in. When you step back and really take it in, it just seems like the freaking noise that we’re all overwhelmed by.”

 

Beyond displaying his work, Beeple Studios doubles as a creative playground and event space. 

 

Focused on experiential gatherings, the studio invites the public to step into Beeple’s hallucinated world. His most recent event was held on presidential election night, featuring actors walking out in $20,000 ultra-realistic masks of figures like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, while the heads of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris sat in a glass casing filled with Spam, cheese dip, and action figures.

 

“It’s fun to play with these sort of living sculptures,” Winkelmann said. “This space is about connecting the digital and physical worlds… imagining what a museum might be like in the future.”

 

As one of the first major artists to embrace NFTs, Beeple believes digital art represents the future. 

 

“We live in an increasingly digital world… and NFTs have opened up massive opportunities for artists,” he said. “So much of our culture happens online, it seems silly to think digital art wouldn’t play a massive role moving forward.”

 

For Beeple, this new age of creativity is about more than just visual expression; it’s about redefining the very concept of art in the modern world. To him, digital art is an “infinite canvas – where anything you imagine can come to life.”

 

“I want people to see digital art as just art – no qualifiers. Everything that has ever stood the test of time pushed forward people’s idea of what art could be. What I’m doing is just trying to make objects exist between the digital and physical.”