About Matt Kane
Matt Kane is an American artist who writes his own software to make layered digital paintings. Born in Chicago, he showed his oil paintings in galleries there in his early twenties, including a solo show, Family Album, at Ann Nathan Gallery in 2006. He then spent a decade as a web developer in the Pacific Northwest, teaching himself to program. He credits Mark Rothko's thin layers of color as a lasting influence.
He minted his first NFT, M87 Black Hole Deconstruction, on SuperRare in May 2019. In September 2020 the collector Token Angels bought Right Place & Right Time on Async Art. The work redraws itself every day from the last 24 hours of Bitcoin's price, with each hour moving one of its 24 layers, and Kane adds daily editions that mark days from Bitcoin's history. That year he also led a group of artists pressing platforms to pay resale royalties.
He minted CryptoArt Monetization Generation, a tribute to the early Rare Pepe card Homer Pepe, on February 25, 2021, as Christie's opened bidding on Beeple's Everydays, and timed its auction to close on March 11, right after Christie's. In October 2021 The Door became the first SuperRare Series, released on his own contract. Grouped together, his generative doors began to look like figures gazing at the moon, which led to Gazers: 1,000 moons released on Art Blocks Curated in December 2021 that follow the real lunar calendar and keep changing as the moons pass. Sotheby's sold two of them in 2024.
In 2023 he released ANONS and Multitudes, portraits made from his collection of vintage photobooth snapshots. His work has been shown at Kunsthalle Zürich, in Venice during the 2022 Biennale and at the Golden Eagle Art Museum in Nanjing.
Notable works
Top sales
- 320 ETH ($1.24M)
- Gazers #751202345 ETH (about $102,600)
- 262 ETH ($101,100)
- Gazers #710202528.5 WETH (about $80,400)
- Gazers #228202515 ETH (about $64,500)
- M87 Black Hole Deconstruction #9Bonhams · 2021$62,812.50
Exhibitions
- 2022-2023DYOR, a group show curated by Nina RoehrsKunsthalle Zürich, Zurich
- 2022-2023Not Only RGB, a group show with Gazers curated by Chiara Braidotti and Sia PineschiMuseum of Contemporary Digital Art (MoCDA), Online
- 2022Coded Elegance, a group show curated by Sarah Meyohas1stDibs, Online
- 2022MetaVanity, during the 59th Venice BiennaleVanity Fair and Valuart, Venice
- 2022Decentral Art PavilionVenice
Recognition
- 2022NFT100 listnft now
- 2021Top 100 Notable People in BlockchainCointelegraph
- 2020Most Innovative NFT, winnerNFT Awards
Press & resources
- ARTnews Polled 10 Digital Art Experts to Find Out Their Favorite Digital Art WorksARTnews · 2025
- Token Supremacy Presents a Sensationalized Version of the NFT BoomARTnews · 2024
Pioneering generative artist propelled by personal tragedy: Matt Kane, NFT CreatorCointelegraph Magazine · 2023- Time On The BlockchainRight Click Save · 2022
- In Conversation with Matt KaneArt Blocks · 2021
NFT Digital Art That Changes With Bitcoin Price Volatility Sold for Record $101,000Bitcoin.com News · 2020
Milestones
- 2006Solo show Family Album at Ann Nathan Gallery in ChicagoAnn Nathan Gallery
- 2019
- 2020
- 2020
- 2021