At the WWD Art Gala in Seoul, I had the pleasure to sit next to Mike Winkelmann a.k.a. Beeple, digital artist and graphic designer, that you should definitely know. Based in Charleston, SC, USA, he does a variety of digital artwork including short films, Creative Commons VJ loops, everydays and VR / AR work. After he began releasing a set of widely used Creative Commons VJ loops he has worked on concert visuals for Justin Bieber, One Direction, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Zedd, deadmau5 and many more.
«BEEPLE is mike winkelmann
he makes a variety of art crap across a variety of media. some of it is ok, but a lot of it kind of blows ass. he’s working on making it suck less everyday though so bear with him… :)»
One of the originators of the current «everyday» movement in 3D graphics, he has been creating a picture everyday from start to finish and posting it online for over ten years without missing a single day. His Instagram account @beeple_crap is absolutely worth following – 2.3 million people would agree on that.
On 1 May 2007, he posted a new work of art online. He did the same thing the next day and the next, and the next one after that, creating and posting a brand-new digital picture, or «everyday» as he called it, every single day for 13-and-a-half years. Now those individual pieces have been brought together in EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS, a unique work in the history of digital art. This monumental collage was the first purely digital artwork (NFT) ever offered at Christie’s. EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS sold online for $69,346,250.
Beeple (b. 1981), EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS, 2021. Non-fungible token (jpg). 21,069 x 21,069 pixels (319,168,313 bytes). Minted on 16 February 2021. Sold for $69,346,250 in a single lot sale concurrently with First Open.
Beeple in Fashion
Apparently, Nicolas Ghesquière, Louis Vuitton Creative Director, was thinking of using some futuristic landscapes for the Maison’s S/S 2019 ready-to-wear collection. Florent Buonomano, Louis Vuitton Artistic Director, then initially approached Beeple after noticing his work on Instagram and brought several of his designs to the attention of Ghesquière. Nine of the «Everydays» pieces were selected and adapted on 13 of the 45 pieces being shown in the Louis Vuitton S/S 2019 collection, mainly on shirts, jackets, and dresses.
When the collection debuted during Paris Fashion Week at The Louvre Museum in Paris, Mike Winkelmann and his wife, with whom he is together since 15 years, attended the show and were impressed themselves to see the digital artwork on the clothing.
Mike Winkelmann has an amazing success story, but he is still down to earth, and very easy to talk to. The guy from next door. Bravo!
Below you can find some of his recent works that I really love!
LoL, Sandra
He posted this right after the trip to Seoul: JETLAG
FAMILY
X IS COMING
WORLDCOIN
NEW COOL THING
Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht, © Louis Vuitton and © Beeple
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Sun-joo Kim with my humble self at the gala. Such an inspiring woman.
Most stunning floral decoration at the gala by LA based floral artist Gina Kim Park.
With wonderful Yuna Kim, CEO & Publisher WWD Korea
Live auction by Simon de Pury.
I sat next to digital artist Mike Winkelmann, alias Beeple, who sold «Everydays: The First 5000 Days,» an NFT-linked digital collage at Christie’s for $69.3 million two years ago.
And yes, we had a lot of fun!
With my dear friend Susan Shin, Art Advisor to WWD Korea, who helped organizing the event, and Jamie QQ Wu.
From left to right: Yuna Kim, a guest, my humble self, Kim Robson Ortiz, Amy Kim Young, Kim Heirston, Susan Shin and a guest.
Always inspiring Nataliya Pissarro.
With artist 
Amazing goodie bag with lots of Korean beauty products!