The world is changing and with it art, which is evolving and becoming more digital, and the new avant-garde is made up of crypto artists like Giovanni Motta. 

Born in 1971, Giovanni Motta was born in Verona and we could not be more convinced in saying that his art, more than any other, combines past and future. 

We find the past in his subjects, especially in the protagonist of many of his works, Jonny Boy. Jonny Boy is the representation of Giovanni’s inner child through whom the artist explores sensations and emotions as a young boy would. That part of ourselves that made every experience unique and that we tend to forget over the years becomes the pivot around which Giovanni Motta’s artistic production revolves. 

The future is represented by the medium. In addition to paintings, sculptures modelled in clay or resin, and 3D prints, the Veronese artist also creates digital works. Crypto Art, a true artistic movement born of the digital age, is the new form adopted by the Veronese artist, who has already achieved a great deal of success in a very short space of time. He has been included in the list of the trendiest artists on SuperRare, one of the most important platforms for the sale of digital works, just a few months after the publication of his first work “Forgetting”, Edition 1/1“.

In a world where every aspect of life is increasingly digitalised, it’s no surprise that art is also adapting to this trend, which is why Giovanni Motta is the artist to follow if you don’t want to miss out on all the new things on the horizon. We asked him a few questions, so read on to make sure you don’t miss the interview. 

How did your artistic career start? 

I am self-taught, I studied accountancy because my family did not believe in my passion and talent. I didn’t have the courage or strength to impose myself, so I started out with some difficulties. I carried on my personal research on the theme of the inner child independently and around the age of 21, I started working in the world of advertising and creative direction, commercials and advertising, always keeping the art project in second place.
It was only 2 years ago, and I am 49, that I made the decision to devote myself exclusively and now art is my job. 

Who better than you to explain what Crypto Art is. 

Actually, there are pioneering artists such as Hackatao who could explain this new world in much more detail, but I can safely say that this is a new artistic movement, an epochal revolution that will drastically change the entire contemporary art system.
Crypto art allows an artist to sell a digital work of art, whether it be a video, jpg or Gif, by transforming it into an NFT, a unique token certified by blockchain technology. This file transformed into a unique token is like having a number plate, an authentication, and can therefore be collected. The file can be copied and transferred, but the ‘number plate’ is one and the same and is owned by the collector who won it. 

How did you discover Crypto Art and how did you become a Crypto artist? 

My friends the Hackatao artists, among others among the first in the world of this art movement, introduced, taught and explained to me the basics of the Crypto philosophy and how to access it by entering one of the most important Crypto art galleries, Superrare.com. Becoming a Crypto artist was a natural transition for me because I have always been very tech-savvy even though I still paint and draw.

I have been working with 3D modelling and animation programs for many years, not only that, I have been working with 3D printing since 2010. I am very curious, like a child, everything new attracts me like a magnet.
To be honest, crypto art makes you think deeply because the digitisation of the work involves a whole series of considerations related to exhibition, curatorship and sale. These are elements that are about to change radically, so the artist has to take them into account, especially someone like me who straddles the line between the two worlds and wants to stay on it. 

Who is Jonny Boy? 

JonnyBoy is a character from the Anime of Life, he is the inner child, he is the subject with whom I explore the dynamics of the human being who, as he grows up, tends to forget his child by losing contact with him.
JonnyBoy is in my paintings, in the form of sculpture, sketch, 3D file, he is everywhere, always in my head and partly he is me.
Thanks to Jonny, which will hopefully become a video game, I continue to allow people to become children again.
Picasso understood this concept very well.
Jonny always has the same expression that encompasses three different moods, fear, which has a negative meaning, wonder, which has a positive meaning, and amazement, which is intermediate.
The spectator, depending on his mood, mirrors himself in Jonny and feels understood, or at least that is what I would like to see happen.

What are your influences and what inspires you to create a new work? 

The world of Japanese anime and manga has strongly influenced my view of the world and oriental culture also has a strong fascination for me. The world of nostalgic 80s video games with their psychedelic graphics.
The Viennese Secession artists Klimt, Schiele and Kokoshka and some impressionists for their ability to convey direct emotions. Marcel Proust and James Hillman for their reflections on memory and destiny.
In a nutshell, these are the cornerstones of my inspiration.

I have my own system for creating work.
I am like a cardboard box full of all kinds of objects, from a simple pen to a toy, a letter, a leaf, a paper plane, a photograph. Infinite objects can be found in this box.
Through meditation I can go back in time, even to my childhood. In this inner journey I see details, colours, scents or sounds. I also recover emotional states, I feel strong sensations, heat, cold, joy, sadness.

At a certain point, something catches my eye, a particular situation where I recognise certain things, like an object or a setting. I collect the information in my mind, conclude the meditation and write down on a sheet of paper all that I can.
Then the planning phase begins, the choice of images, drawing and composition.
And then off like the wind towards the realization of the image that will become a painting or a crypto work. 

What do you think the future of art could be?

This is a very difficult question.
The advent of crypto art I think will turn classic art into vintage art.
I don’t know when, but one thing is for sure, if a young boy or girl today, who wants to pursue a career as an artist, has to choose between a paintbrush and a light pen, they will all choose the light pen or the vast majority.
This will bring digital art to be the undisputed protagonist and change all the dynamics of art today. From exhibition to fruition. 

Discover more about Giovanni Motta on his site, on Instagram, on Facebook and, of course, don’t miss his works for sale on SuperRare.