Celebrated SA artist Blessing Ngobeni steps into the metaverse

Motivated by social injustices experienced by the majority of people in post-Apartheid South Africa, Ngobeni’s large-scale mixed media paintings are fiercely critical of the country’s political elite and the abuse of power. His exploration of NFTs follows the likes of Frank Miller, KAWS, Maylee Todd, LaTurbo Avedon, and Gary Vee, who have embraced the medium internationally, and Norman Catherine, who debuted his NFT collection in Africarare in 2021.

This seminal collection features both new works and celebrated works of Ngobeni such as Anatomy of an Insurrection, Lust I, Lust II, Lust III, Shitting Trump and Tribute to African Portraiture. The NFT collection is currently on exhibit at the Mila Gallery in Ubuntuland, in Africarare, Africa’s first metaverse, and can be viewed here.

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In addition to having exhibited in several group and solo exhibitions, Ngobeni has been the recipient of many awards such as the Reinhold Cassirer Award2012 as well as the Gala Ex-Offenders Awards and the ImpACT Awards for Young Professionals. He also sponsors the Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize.

“I’m excited to bring my unique style to the metaverse and offer collectors the chance to own both a physical piece and a digital collectible of my work,’ said Ngobeni.

"We are thrilled to exhibit Blessing’s inaugural collection of NFT’s, which represent his debut foray into this medium” said Leora Hessen, chief magic and sparkle officer of Africarare.

“His works are South African treasures that address our society’s complexities with nuance in his distinct style, and would be a valuable investment for any collector,” she added.