Pioneer of Blockchain Art
Robert
Alice
Makes art, exhibitions, and books that investigate blockchains and their histories. The first artist to sell an NFT at a major auction house — Christie's, 2020.
Makes art, exhibitions, and books that investigate blockchains and their histories. The first artist to sell an NFT at a major auction house — Christie's, 2020.
Robert Alice makes art, exhibitions, and books that investigate blockchains and their histories. A trained art historian, Alice has lectured internationally on blockchain-based art — most notably co-producing the first academic conference on NFTs at the University of Oxford in 2022.
Their landmark series Portraits of a Mind (2019–) — 40 giant paintings encoding the complete Bitcoin source code — was credited as one of the early catalysts behind the subsequent rapid growth of the blockchain art space.
Work collected by the Centre Pompidou (Paris), Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and institutions internationally.
From the first blockchain artwork sold at Christie's to a generative study of NFT history — each work exists simultaneously as physical object and cryptographic proof.
40 giant paintings encoding the complete Bitcoin source code. Block 21 sold at Christie's New York in October 2020 — the first NFT ever transacted at a major auction house. Price: $131,250.
![SOURCE [On NFTs] — Robert Alice 2024](https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2024/02/C-Sample-Output-Robert-Alice-SOURCE-ON-NFTs-2024-%C2%A9-Robert-Alice-All-Rights-Reserved-1-copy-2-1024x724.jpg)
A series created by a generative ML model hardcoded by Alice. Exhibited at Christie's New York. The first collection of generative art NFTs at Christie's 3.0.
Published by TASCHEN. The largest art historical survey of blockchain-based art to date. Co-produced 0xBAT at Oxford University — the first academic NFT conference.
Each painting in Portraits of a Mind corresponds to one of Bitcoin's 40,000+ blocks — a literal transcription of Satoshi Nakamoto's source code rendered in paint on aluminium.
Alice's practice occupies a singular position: trained as an art historian yet working at the edge of cryptography, economic theory, and conceptual art. The blockchain is not a medium — it is a subject, a structure, and a philosophical proposition.
"We live in a world where, on one side, AI hallucinates and, on the other, blockchains immutably record." — Robert Alice, 2024
Gutai art does not alter matter. It brings matter to life — blockchain art does not alter code. It makes code visible.
Concept underlying Robert Alice's practice
Works collected by leading museums and institutions worldwide — representing a formal acceptance of blockchain art into the canonical art historical record.
Series launched — 40 paintings encoding the complete Bitcoin source code on aluminium panels, one per 1,000 blocks of the blockchain.
Block 21 (42.36433° N, -71.26189° E) sells for $131,250. The first NFT ever transacted at a major auction house — a watershed moment for blockchain art and institutional legitimacy.
Co-produces the first academic conference on NFTs at the University of Oxford. Alice opens the conference — cementing blockchain art's academic discourse.
Centre Pompidou and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art announce major blockchain art accessions, including Alice's work — the largest institutional endorsement of the field to date.
Returns to Christie's with SOURCE [On NFTs] — the first generative art NFT collection at Christie's 3.0. Simultaneously publishes On NFTs with TASCHEN: the largest art historical survey of blockchain-based art ever produced.