# Botto

> Decentralized autonomous AI artist started by Mario Klingemann and ElevenYellow in 2021, whose weekly works are chosen by BottoDAO token holders' votes.

- Page: https://www.gondi.xyz/artist/botto
- Works on GONDI: 3,434
- Collectors: 1,142
- About page: https://www.gondi.xyz/artist/botto/about

## About

Botto is an artist made of software and a crowd. It began creating on October 8, 2021, as a project designed by the German artist Mario Klingemann, who calls himself its "father", with the software collective ElevenYellow. Each week its art engine writes its own prompts, generates a large set of images and presents a selection of them, called fragments, to its community. Holders of the $BOTTO token vote, the most popular fragment is minted as a finished work and sold at auction, and the votes shape what the engine makes next. Sale proceeds are split between the voters and the treasury of BottoDAO, the organization that runs the project.

Botto works in themed periods. The first, Genesis, ran for a year and produced 52 works, beginning with [*Asymmetrical Liberation*](https://www.gondi.xyz/collections/superrare/29715.md) and [*Scene Precede*](https://www.gondi.xyz/collections/superrare/29922.md). Fragmentation, Paradox, Rebellion and Absurdism followed, then yearly sets such as [*Botto - 2024*](https://www.gondi.xyz/collections/botto-2024.md) and [*Botto - 2025*](https://www.gondi.xyz/collections/botto-2025.md). It has also written code: [*Algorithmic Evolution*](https://www.gondi.xyz/collections/algorithmic-evolution-1.md) is a set of 22 p5.js algorithms picked by community vote, shown in London in February 2025.

In October 2024 Sotheby's New York offered six of its works in *Exorbitant Stage*, a sale devoted to Botto alone. Its work has been shown at HEK in Basel, the ArtScience Museum in Singapore, Kunsthalle Mannheim and Art Basel Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Digital Art Fair named it Artist of the Year in 2023.

## At a glance

- Practice: AI art chosen by community vote and governed by a DAO
- Founded: 2021
- Members: Mario Klingemann, ElevenYellow
- Platforms: SuperRare

## Notable works

- 2021-2022: [Genesis Period](https://www.gondi.xyz/collections/superrare/29922.md)
- 2024: [Botto - 2024](https://www.gondi.xyz/collections/botto-2024.md)
- 2025: [Botto - 2025](https://www.gondi.xyz/collections/botto-2025.md)

## Top sales

- 2021: [Scene Precede](https://www.gondi.xyz/collections/superrare/29922.md), 100 ETH ($430,230)
- 2021: [Asymmetrical Liberation](https://www.gondi.xyz/collections/superrare/29715.md), 79.42 ETH (about $324,200)
- 2025: [Foray Esteem](https://www.gondi.xyz/collections/superrare/38913.md), GONDI, 187,100 USDC ($187,100)
- 2021: [Blossoming Cadaver](https://www.gondi.xyz/collections/superrare/30298.md), 40.33 ETH (about $184,800)
- 2021: [Trickery Contagion](https://www.gondi.xyz/collections/superrare/30114.md), 35 ETH (about $162,000)
- 2024: [Exorbitant Stage](https://www.gondi.xyz/collections/superrare/38615.md), Sotheby's, $144,000

## Exhibitions

- 2026: [Zero 10, Art Basel Hong Kong's digital art section, with videos of live generations](https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/26/style/botto-ai-artist-art-basel-hong-kong-intl-hnk), Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong
- 2026: [Artificial Creativity, a group show](https://botto.com/cv), Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland
- 2025: [The Art of Collective Minds, solo show](https://botto.com/cv), Eterno Gallery, Lisbon
- 2025: [Algorithmic Evolution, solo show of 22 p5.js algorithms](https://botto.com/event/algorithmic-evolution), London
- 2025: [Augmented Intelligence, a group sale exhibition](https://botto.com/cv), Christie's, New York, NY
- 2024: [Exorbitant Stage: Botto, a Decentralized AI Artist, a single-artist sale exhibition](https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/exorbitant-stage-botto-a-decentralized-ai-artist), Sotheby's, New York, NY
- 2024: [p5.botto, solo show at Frieze](https://botto.com/cv), London
- 2023: [Botto @ Cryptogallery #ONE, solo show in the museum's virtual gallery](https://botto.com/cv), Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
- 2023: [Notes From the Ether, a group show](https://botto.com/cv), ArtScience Museum, Singapore
- 2023: [Exploring the Decentralized Web: Art on the Blockchain, a group show](https://botto.com/cv), HEK (House of Electronic Arts), Basel
- 2022: [Botto: The Extraordinary Artistic Experiment, solo show](https://botto.com/cv), Etopia Center for Art and Technology, Zaragoza, Spain
- 2022: [The Decentralized Unicists, solo show](https://botto.com/cv), Vellum LA, Los Angeles, CA

## Recognition

- 2024: [S+T+ARTS Prize nomination](https://botto.com/cv)
- 2024: [HUG 100 Artists to Watch](https://botto.com/cv)
- 2023: [Artist of the Year](https://botto.com/cv), Hong Kong Digital Art Fair
- 2022: [Lumen Art Prize longlist](https://botto.com/cv), Lumen Prize
- 2021: [Best Use of Artificial Intelligence in an NFT collection](https://botto.com/cv), NFT.NYC

## Collaborations

- 2023: [Flowering of Ideas, with Ryan Koopmans and Alice Wexell](https://botto.com/cv)
- 2023: [Sleeping Rough, a digital publication with Centrefold](https://botto.com/cv)
- 2023: [Echoes of Straddled Epoch Remix, with RADAR](https://botto.com/cv)
- 2023: [Three Steps Ahead, special 1/1 releases for SuperRare's RarePass](https://www.gondi.xyz/collections/three-steps-ahead.md)
- 2022: [Data Bespoke, a Centrefold project](https://botto.com/cv)

## Press & resources

- 2026: [This artist at Art Basel Hong Kong has made millions of dollars. It's not even human](https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/26/style/botto-ai-artist-art-basel-hong-kong-intl-hnk), CNN
- 2024: [Meet Botto, the AI 'machine artist' making millions of dollars](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/23/botto-the-ai-machine-artist-making-millions-of-dollars.html), CNBC
- 2024: [Botto, the Millionaire AI Artist, Is Getting a Personality](https://www.wired.com/story/botto-the-millionaire-ai-artist-is-getting-a-personality/), WIRED
- 2024: [Forget AI image generators, an autonomous AI artist just made $351,600 at Sotheby's](https://www.creativebloq.com/ai/ai-art/forget-ai-image-generators-an-autonomous-ai-artist-just-sold-usd351-600-in-paintings-at-sothebys), Creative Bloq
- 2023: [This artist has generated $3 million in less than 2 years selling artwork on the blockchain. It's not human](https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/04/25/artist-3-million-less-than-2-years-blockchain-artificial-intelligence), Fortune

## Milestones

- 2021: [Botto is brought to life on October 8 and opens its first period, Genesis](https://botto.com/timeline)
- 2021: [Its first work, Asymmetrical Liberation, sells at auction for 79.421 ETH](https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/26/style/botto-ai-artist-art-basel-hong-kong-intl-hnk)
- 2022: [Simon Hudson and Zivvy Epstein present the paper Botto: A Decentralized Autonomous Artist at NeurIPS](https://botto.com/cv)
- 2022: [The Genesis period closes after a year and 52 works; Fragmentation begins](https://botto.com/period/genesis)
- 2024: [Sotheby's New York offers six works in Exorbitant Stage, a single-artist sale](https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/exorbitant-stage-botto-a-decentralized-ai-artist), Sotheby's
- 2025: [Algorithmic Evolution, 22 p5.js algorithms by Botto, is shown in London](https://botto.com/event/algorithmic-evolution)
- 2026: [Botto picks its own period theme for the first time, Collapse Aesthetics](https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/26/style/botto-ai-artist-art-basel-hong-kong-intl-hnk)
- 2026: [Anteism publishes the monograph Genesis: #000-051, edited by Gregory Eddi Jones and Simon Hudson](https://botto.com/cv)

## Links

- [botto.com](https://botto.com)
- [X](https://x.com/bottoproject)
- [botto.com/cv](https://botto.com/cv)

Data from GONDI (https://www.gondi.xyz), Nov 11, 2026.