Businessman Martin Mobarak It has generated great controversy and indignation in the art world at an international level. The reason? set fire to the work sinister ghosts of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo to turn it into NTF’s. The piece was valued at 10 million dollarssome 200 million Mexican pesosAnd now it’s just a handful of ashes.
The burning took place during a private event at the businessman’s residence, located in Miami, Florida. Mobarak drew the drawing sinister ghosts from a sleeve, he removed the frame that protected it and put it in a glass with dry ice. Immediately afterwards, the flames were lit. While the work was burning, among the applause of those present, the song began to play ‘beautiful sky’performed by live mariachis.
The big party, which included a fashion show and other shows, welcomed art collectors, designers, digital artists and representatives of charities. Although it took place on July 30, the images of the event began to circulate just a few days ago, causing great controversy.
“Turning this work into an NFT is the way in which we can immortalize the works and her life, we are making the bridge between traditional art and new art, which is digital art (…) Frida was a person who liked to give It is something that is going to generate controversy, with this we can ensure the success of this project”, said the businessman in an interview.
Is Frida Kahlo’s drawing worth more as an NFT than a physical one?
In the place frida.nftMartin Mobarak explains that he bought the piece for $10 million in 2015 from the Mary Anne Martin gallery. sinister ghosts is a drawing made by Frida Kahlo in 1944 in her personal diary. On the page you can find documents such as the certificate of authenticity and the work study, which guarantee its legitimacy.
For his project, he digitized the artwork front and back in PNG format, to preserve as much fidelity as possible. Subsequently, he converted the file into an NFT and generated 10 thousand pieces of code blockchaineach with a unique content record that ensures its authenticity.
By burning the drawing in public, it was shown that it now only exists in the virtual world. “Like the Phoenix rising from its ashes, art is reborn into eternity,” Mobarak declared to Exeleon Magazine.
The NFTs of sinister ghosts can be purchased on the official website of the project paying with ETH (ether)the native cryptocurrency of blockchain ethereum. Each is priced at 3 ethers.
At this time, each ETH has a value of 1,324 dollars (about 27,000 Mexican pesos), according to data from CoinMarketCap. That means each NFT of the Frida Kahlo piece costs about $3,972 (about 81,000 MXN). If all 10,000 units are sold, some $39.7 millionthat is, almost four times its original physical value.
A controversial act for altruistic purposes
Martin Mobarak defines himself as a “Mexican-American” of Lebanese origin, who grew up in Mexico City. Based on your LinkedIn profile, He studied Administration at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and Cybersecurity at the University of Miami. He has been CEO in several companies and is the creator of the cryptocurrency AG-Coin.
Beyond his profile as a businessman, Mobarak is the father of an 11-year-old girl named Elektrawho suffers from Crouzon Syndrome. Thats why he 30% of profits obtained from the sale of Frida Kahlo’s MFTs, will be donated to charities for various social causes.
According to the businessman, this is a way to turn the pain of the Mexican artist into relief. “I am proud to say that this event will solve some of the world’s biggest problems in honor of Frida Kahlo,” he said.
In fact, it is planned to replicate this event with other works and on its website it announces an upcoming NFT for November 2022.
“This platform that we are designing is to perpetually generate funds for the foundations that we choose. These foundations can have some assurance that there is always some help for them,” he assured.
Some of the foundations benefiting from this sale will be: the Children’s Craniofacial Association, the Autism Society, Fundación de Origen (for Battered Women in Mexico), the Association for the bladder exstrophy community, the National Coalition against Domestic Violence and the Casa de Caridad by Ronald McDonald. They will also support the Frida Kahlo House Museum, the Palace of Fine Arts and the National School of Plastic Arts with funds.
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