Sofia Garcia founded ARTXCODE, a generative art house that operates as a studio and agency. Over the last six years, Sofia Garcia has become a noteworthy leader in the Generative Artspace as a curator, advisor, and community builder. She currently sits on the curation board for Art Blocks and previously worked at Onyx by J.P. Morgan as a blockchain technical design strategist and Director of Education of Code/Art, a non-profit focused on teaching young girls how to make art with code.
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In today’s episode, we discuss:
[2:00] Sofia’s art background and how she got into technology and coding via a college course about computer science and volunteering to teach girls how to code Code/Art. Mentioned: Vera Molnár, Amy Renshaw.
[6:40] Starting ArtXCode Instagram account to share her favorite coded works.
[9:20] Her job at JPMorgan allowed Sofia to start collecting art from artists like Tyler Hobbs and Dmitri Cherniak before 2018.
[11:10] Sofia’s first booth at an art fair. Mentioned: Sebastian Sanchez.
[13:30] How Sofia discovered the generative artwork of Tyler Hobbs and Dmitri Cherniak.
[16:25] Meeting John Watkinson, Larva Labs co-founder, in an MIT hackathon.
[19:30] Collectors became interested in NFTs but not the physical works. Mentioned: CryptoVoxels, Autoglyphs.
[20:30] In 2019, Artxcode experienced NFTs as a certificate of the physical work and continued to showcase art on physical fares. Mentioned: Manolo Gamboa, Helena Sarin, Ben Snell, Zach Bodtorf, and David Mrugala.
[25:40] Reaction from artists regarding minting NFTs in 2020 and how Covid made ArtXCode mint on Super Rare. Mentioned: Harshit Agrawal, CADAF, Museum of Crypto Art, Pablo Fraile
[31:40] ArtBlocks and Ringers came out. Auction houses entered the game, and Sofia didn’t like how auction houses showcased digital art. Mentioned: Sotheby’s, Erick Calderon ‘snowfro’.
[35:30] Sofia describes a physical show called ‘The Digital’ that she designed and curated. One of the proudest moments of her life. Mentioned: Casey Reas, Centuries, Jeff Davis, Color Studies, Subscapes, Fidenza, Chromie Squiggle.
[39:30] How Sofia defines ArtXCode today (art representation, experimental, legal support, sales, and advisory). Mentioned: Toni Marinara, Martin Grasser, and Lars Wander.
[44:00] Biggest challenges for artists today and how to think holistically about their career. Mentioned: William Mapan, Tyler Hobbs, Sasha Stiles, Linda Dounia, IX Shells, SMK museum, and the MoMA.
[52:00] Advice for emerging artists.
[56:00] Three artists that inspire Sofia: Sasha Stiles, Maya Man, and Helena Sarin (her book in collab with Dmitri Cherniak) produced & edited by Sofia.
Until next time,
- Kaloh
The Story Behind ArtXCode ft. Sofia Garcia