The Signature Series, Volume I by Marco Santini

The Signature Series by NYC Artist Marco Santini is a 22-piece collection that bridges the gap between past, present, and future. Extremely rare and signed art books from the masters of History (Basquiat, Warhol, Haring, Matisse, de Kooning, Kahlo, and more) have been reimagined as collages that showcase the range of their works. Each collaged book is paired with a single, exclusive, animated NFT that takes the art collaboration into the future.

To benefit the greater community, each buyer will also be able to choose a school anywhere in the world for Santini to speak about the future of art and NFTs before painting a mural with the students, bringing about a positive educational experience for the creators of the future.

This series will give birth to a new field of artwork that transforms historic relics into collaborative art pieces that can be enjoyed from multiple perspectives.

About Marco Santini

Marco Santini is an award-winning NYC-based artist, mentor, and inventor who draws inspiration from inclusion, positivity, and language. His work has been featured at the United Nations General Assembly, Art Basal Miami, Burning Man, and SXSW. He has completed over 20 art activations with Bloomingdale’s around the country and also paints schools around the world.

In 2007, he received a bachelor of arts in Linguistic Anthropology at Brown University, where he was intrigued by the relationship between communication, expression, and imagery. Santini worked at branding agencies in NYC before fully committing to the arts. His geometric style is expressed across multiple mediums, including NFTs, spray paint, paint markers, window markers, acrylics, magazines, textiles, and digital art.

In 2018, Santini found his life’s purpose: to spread love and positivity as a conscious creator based on a supportive cast of friends, family, and now wife. He has expressed this through art, education, and volunteering. He speaks and paints at schools around the world, teaching students to explore their passions while turning negatives into positives.

Santini has found his way into some major celebrity art collections, including Ringo Starr (The Beatles), Matt Morrison (Glee Actor), Sarah Hughes (Olympic Gold Medalist), and Ken Schanzer (Former NBC Sports President), to name a few.

Santini’s work has been covered in the New York Times, Forbes, New York Post, Time Out New York, Chicago Tribune, and Maxim Magazine. His art has been featured at the United Nations General Assembly, Art Basel Miami, Bloomingdale’s, Burning Man, SXSW, Hudson Yards, Shore Club Miami, SLS Miami, Underhill walls, Montreal’s mural festival, and many art galleries, among others.

His first three NFTs sold for five figures each ($15,500 – September 2021, $18,500 – September 2021, $22,000 – March 2022).

The Drop – November 29, 2022

Six animated 1/1 NFTs that come with the associated physical, sculptural artwork and the option for the buyer to choose a school anywhere in the world for Santini to speak about art and NFTs & paint a mural with the students under the patronage of/with attribution to the buyer.

Please note: buyer must contact Marco Santini at <hello@marco-santini.com> within 7 days of purchase to disclose shipping address Delivery logistics will be coordinated by Santini. Worldwide shipping will be free of charge.

Six physical artworks from The Signature Series will debut at MakersPlace’s booth at SCOPE Miami Beach 2022, displayed in custom Plexiglas cases alongside their corresponding NFTs. These six “phygital” works will be released as The Signature Series – Volume I — the artist’s inaugural Drop on MakersPlace — coinciding with the VIP Preview of the fair on November 29th starting at 12pm ET.

The remaining 16 physical artworks from The Signature Series and their corresponding NFTs will debut in a solo exhibition at Lighthouse NFT Gallery in San Juan, Puerto Rico and released as The Signature Series – Volume II on MakersPlace on December 8th starting at 7pm ET.

Frida Kahlo

Greatness is a choice. I admire Frida Kahlo’s dedication to her creative vision, refusing to change her artistic style for her clients.

She turned to the arts in her teens after a terrible bus accident that fractured her spine and pelvis. Her parents brought her paints and an easel to use in bed to express her inner truth. This led to an incredible career that even saw Kahlo as the first Mexican Artist featured in the Louvre.

This 1938 Time Magazine shows her first press piece, albeit quite offensive by modern standards, introducing Kahlo not as herself, but rather as the wife of famed muralist Diego Rivera. The article can be seen below, forming the silhouette of her body.

This artwork merges two of Kahlo’s most famous paintings, Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird with the Broken Column. Surrounding the image are words, phrases, and locations important to Kahlo’s life that inspired future generations.

Frida persisted, creating art despite a life of pain for her childhood injuries and romantic traumas. This NFT brings to life the beauty that can come from such difficult times, with stars in her eyes and an immortal heart.

Henri Matisse

Great artists learn from others. Thanks to his Mother, Henri Matisse gave up a career in Law to become the famed French Visual Artist appreciated today.

Matisse used bright, aggressive colors as the leader of the Fauvism movement, but he stood up for greatness. He even supported fellow artists, going into debt to buy some of their works. Matisse can be seen in the lower middle section, sitting in front of one of his works.

This book, issued in 1951 by the Museum of Modern Art, contains an original lithograph by Matisse and the signature of Alfred H. Barr, the first director of the MoMA in New York City. Bright colors weave in and out of the new artwork, but the real magic happens when this piece comes alive in the NFT.

Matisse’s trademark cutouts circle the figure on the left, moving in and out of the book to form a background alive with color. During the last few years of his life, Matisse was bedridden, turning to scissors and paper to create collages using these unique paper cutouts.

These works directly inspired my vision of the Signature Series and overall artistic journey, proving that anything can be art, no matter what the critics say.

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Great artists transcend their environments. New York City’s iconic artist rose to fame in the 1980s with his abstract expressionist paintings.

He was inspired by his upbringing, anatomical drawings, historical documents, and complex symbolism. Though he never went to art school, he said he learned about art by observing his surroundings.

I created this piece in New York City during the Covid pandemic, and know I had to cut around the first few pages to reveal the Statue of Liberty, though it was deep in the book and near the binding.

Basquiat’s trademark crown and powerful verbal messages can be found vying for attention throughout the piece. I maintained the intense energy from his works by keeping in mind how Basquiat might collage his own work to create a composite piece that could fit in with his prior art.

The NFT features an animated signature on the left page, visible on top, ripped away from the book. The right page is seen below, where works pop and patterns swirl to share his eternal energy.

Keith Haring

Art transcends language barriers. American Pop Artist and New York City legend Keith Haring transformed his graffiti style into a visual language for all. He was also one of my earliest and most powerful inspirations.

I was amazed by his ability to communicate important concepts with simple designs that translated beyond language barriers. From the streets to the subways to galleries all over the world, his work resonated on many levels.

This 1984 Vanity Fair features cover art by Haring, matched with elements from the article about him in the magazine. Haring’s idea of global inclusion, which matches with my life’s purpose to spread love and positivity through art and education, is shown within the NFT, as people from the full spectrum of colors work together to keep the beating heart stable.

Robert Indiana

Storytelling was at the heart of works created by American Pop artist Robert Indiana. He believed the verbal and visual were one. His art is intoxicating as he tries to blend intellectual complexity with a simplification through bold colors, sharp edges and expressive meanings.

His iconic Love design only exploded onto the art scene after New York City’s Museum of Modern Art used the design for their Christmas card in 1965. He believed the role of an artist was to communicate with yourself so you could communicate with the world.

This book really spoke to me and I was inspired to create a balance between the overflowing signs that focus on the power of communication, expanding past the edges of the page, compared to the Love designs on the right.

These creations build upon each other in an orderly fashion, creating a colorful, new depiction based on his original compositions.

The NFT finds the edges of the core Love designs swirling in pursuit of each other while the background blends further into the future, showing the immortal nature of his trademark creation.

Roy Lichtenstein

Great art challenges the status quo. American Pop Artist Roy Lichtenstein wanted his work to appear machine-like and used ben-day dots throughout his work to symbolize the printing press.

He often depicted the emotional extremes of life, trying to capture the single frame climax of an event. My challenge was to join these climaxes into a single snapshot.

He also would manipulate the works of others, transforming their styles to marry with his. This inspired me to do the same with his work, creating a new, hybrid style. For this reason, the Lichtenstein artwork was actually the first piece created for the Signature Series.

Lichtenstein’s signature is actually on the first page but rather than cut and paste it, I worked around his signature while keeping the original binding in tact. For the NFT, I animated his Signature and dot structures, surrounded by a neon, pulsating border that shows different perspectives of his works.