How Vellum LA is bringing digital art down to earth through digital displays

By Virginia Valenzuela, Arts Editor

After over a year of lockdowns and a forced near-full immersion into the digital universe, many art lovers and NFT collectors are yearning for an in-person experience that will feel both familiar and brand new. Enter Vellum LA: the first NFT-backed digital art gallery to bring digital art to the physical world of Los Angeles. In partnership with SuperRare, Vellum LA will present “Sea Change: Digital Art in the Real World,” their first physical NFT exhibition and online auction, from July 29th through August 1st.

Curated by Jesse Damiani and Sinziana Velicescu, “Sea Change” aims to provide context to a blossoming realm of art that connects what we see on screen to what we see in person. “What we’re hoping to do with the LA Art Show and Vellum LA gallery,” says curator Sinziana Velicescu, “is to bridge the gap between the physical and digital world, between the crypto and traditional art collectors, and to showcase work that we think can be relevant to both worlds.”

Left: “BAD MANNERS” by Planttdaddii, Right: “Departure” by Blake Kathryn on billboard

All artworks will be showcased on StandardVision’s state-of-the-art LumaCanvas™ displays, which were engineered specifically for these kinds of installments. By working with video and digital art pioneers such as Bill Viola, Jenny Holzer, Refik Anadol, and Kahlil Joseph, StandardVision set out to create unique LED displays that look and feel like digital canvases.

Left: “Glitch Goddess in Red Number Two” by Marjan Moghaddam on billboard, Right: “The Mystery v5-dv2 (chroma)” by Auriea Harvey on billboard

“What we’ve learned in the past few months,” according to Ms. Velicescu, “is that many artists want to have their work seen in person. Many NFT collectors want to be validated within the art community: they believe that their collections belong in museums. What does this new type of museum or gallery look like? That’s sort of the question we’re trying to answer with Vellum LA.”

Left: “Supercube 400XR” by Krista Kim on billboard, Right: “Elegant” by Nicole Ruggiero

Designing a museum-quality canvas was one of the first steps to finding their way into galleries. For StandardVision, it started with “the highest regard for mastering color and luminosity. Immediately more vivid and lifelike than the highest caliber of TV displays,” states a press release from StandardVision, “LumaCanvas boasts resilient technology designed to operate 24/7.” Much like the sensory experience provided by a traditional canvas, it has “a matte surface that can avoid reflections and maintain deep blacks.”