Justin Aversano is an American artist, curator and entrepreneur, as
well as a star of the NFT photography space. He lives and works in Los
Angeles.
His breakthrough came in October 2021 when he launched the project Twin Flames, which consists of photographs of 100 sets of
twins minted as NFTs. One of the works,
#83. Bahareh & Farzaneh, sold as an NFT and physical print
Justin Aversano is an American artist, curator and entrepreneur, as
well as a star of the NFT photography space. He lives and works in Los
Angeles.
His breakthrough came in October 2021 when he launched the project Twin Flames, which consists of photographs of 100 sets of
twins minted as NFTs. One of the works,
#83. Bahareh & Farzaneh, sold as an NFT and physical print at Christie’s in October 2021 for
$1.1 million. This new record price for the artist was more than 11
times the work’s low estimate.
The image’s accompanying catalogue described Aversano as ‘one of the
most wild, interesting and exciting creatives and photographers under
30 in the world.’
Aversano graduated from New York’s School of Visual Arts with a BFA in
photography in 2014. The following year he co-founded Save Art Space
with fellow SVA alum Travis Rix. The non-profit organisation exhibits
art with a social justice message throughout cities on public displays,
including billboards, bus terminals and digital screens.
In 2020, The New York Times called one politically-themed
exhibition organised by Save Art Space ‘one of the most important art
moments’ of the year.
In April 2021, Save Art Space collaborated with the NFT project
CryptoPunks to display nearly 100 of their portraits across spaces in Miami.
Aversano is also the CEO of Quantum, an Ethereum-based NFT platform. It
was established in November 2021 and first focused on photography, but
quickly expanded into curated drops of other formats.
In August 2022, the artist released 365 paintings minted as NFTs for
the project Cognition. Priced at 1 ETH each, around $1,600 at
the time, the works immediately sold out. The following month,
collectors had the opportunity to redeem the NFT’s physical counterpart
at a three-hour-long exhibition in New York.
Aversano’s other photography projects include Every Day is a Gift, which saw him shoot people celebrating
their birthday every day for a year, and Smoke and Mirrors, 78
portraits of mystics from around the world portrayed as different tarot
cards.