Reminiscent of Fabergé Eggs, the heavily gilded and jewelled creations form part of a unique digital collection of 10,000 golden skulls.
The prize winning collection is called “Skullduggeries” and is a brainchild of ‘KORVIUM’, an elusive digital artist whose nationality and true identity still remain a mystery.
The competition was announced by the Intergovernmental Organization EDU www.edu.int , an initiative to promote education through artistic expression, digital awareness, adoption and experimentation.
The call was simply for: “Digital entries of artwork that showcase the capabilities of the digital medium while representing humanity across borders, culture, race, gender, age and religion”.
The free-to-enter competition attracted almost 11000 entries from both professional and amateur artists across the globe.
Beating almost 11,000 artists, Korvium was crowned the ultimate winner, picking up an impressive $100,000 USD paid in ETH and is scheduled to meet the Secretary-General of EDU personally later in the year.
Along with his winning entry, Korvium wrote the message:
“The skull is a consistent and instantly recognisable design across all cultures. Depending on the context skulls can mean fortune, death, danger, happiness, sadness, love, life and even divinity. Skull artwork and carvings are scattered across human history, from the ancient to the modern day. Regardless of where we live, the languages we speak, our race, our gender, our beliefs, or even our faith, we all have one. Skulls are remarkable in that they are simultaneously universal and unique. While each person’s skull is immediately recognisable and equivalent, no two are identical. The 10,000 individual NFTs of the “Skullduggeries” collection embody this dichotomy. Each one is unique yet equivalent, just as each human being’s individual story is unique while at the same time sharing more in common than separates us. A skull is special in that all living humans must have one yet, unlike vital organs which quickly decompose, the skull remains intact after death. Skulls remind us all – rich or poor – that nobody is immortal, life is precious and color is and always has been, only skin deep!”.
So who is Korvium?
Nobody really knows for sure. The artist only ever appears masked an in a hoodie and never reveals his age or real name. We do know his art is very popular with his original paintings selling for tens of thousands of dollars. Collectors with not-so-fat wallets can choose to collect his digital artwork.
The artist once listed his location as “Transylvania”, but this was likely tongue-in-cheek and a cheeky reference to the dark and mysterious artwork he often produces, such as Vampires, Werewolves, Witches and other strange and eerie characters. Skulls though it seems are his trademark and main staple in almost all his artwork. For instance, a vampire may feature as a main character in a painting, but if you look closely, an earring or necklace is skull shaped. Or a reflection in an character’s eye might contain an image of Korvium himself. These “easter eggs” placed into his artwork a proving very popular with collectors.
A Self Portrait by KORVIUM recently sold for $30,000 USD
