The Artist: Vinnie Hager
Vinne Hager has refined his visual language into a series of symbols derived from a master set of 100 diary drawings made over a period of a decade. In these drawings lay the clues to a newfound strength to grow through art. Unlike the outward protest symbols present of Keith Haring’s work, Hagers symbols to date are more introspective. The ‘envelope’ top left in ‘Smudge Smudge’ from 2020, the ‘crying eye’ in ‘Vanity Plate Party Nachoes’ from 2019, the ‘Smiley Balloon’ from ‘Zoom Fatigue’ and the structured doodling in ‘Friday To Do List’ are the foundations for future greatness.
42 of the 100 hand drawings were minted randomly during the 24 hours the mint window stayed open. These were eligible to have the original 1/1 drawing claimed and sent to the collectoor.
The Collection: Diary by Vinnie Hager
Diary expands on the Original 100 hand drawings by generating a large 1/1/x format collection minted 3,100 times. Each mint was a potential moment to win one of the Original 100 hand drawings as well as 12 beautiful visual diary entries of their own. The 12 ‘Entry’ traits decided the composition and the 30 ‘Palette’ traits directed the applied colors, with a further ‘Color’ trait increasing or reducing the range of colors between two and seven.
A Specific Artwork: Hey NVM Wait
Hey NVM Wait is the 1/1 artwork that MintFace was lucky enough to mint straight out of the gate. The year of the diary entry is shown in the bottom right as 2021. Words written include ‘Coinbase’ and ‘Chainlink’ indicating that Hager was fully into crypto already and introducing new crypto related symbolism into his visual language. I am yet to discover what the title ‘Hey NVM Wait’ means.
Hager is applying his aesthetic surface that will have it including everything from fast flowing merch and slow setting concrete walls. Expect to see these symbols at every cryptoart festival and exhibition for the foreseeable future.