10 Best NFT Artists of 2022
Some of the best NFT artists today were small-time creators struggling to make it big before NFTs became mainstream around 2019-2020. Two years later, now everyone wants to be an NFT artist.
Some of these people are serious artists, while others are just trying to create the next most outrageous, viral piece of art that will make them millions of dollars.
Whether you like it or not, both these groups of people deserve props for making it big, no matter how they did it.
The following is a list of the 10 best NFT artists of 2022 that are breaking all boundaries, creating art in unique and creative ways that we’ve never seen before.
1. Beeple
Beeple is the name that Mike Winkelmann goes by as an artist. He’s the most valuable living artist after Jeff Koons and David Hockney.
Beeple started his journey with the everyday series, where he would create one piece of art every day for the next 13 years.
He finally got his big break when his first NFT, Everyday: The First 5000 Days, sold for a staggering $69 million. As the name suggests, it was a collage of his first 5000 artworks.
His NFT, the Human One, was sold for $28.9 million at Christie’s auction. He created a couple more NFTs after that, like Crossroads and Ocean Front, and continues to do so.
Not only is Beeple one of the best NFT artists, but he’s considered one of the greatest of this generation by many.
2. Pak
Pak is an interesting and mysterious individual, or maybe a group. Yes, we don’t know who Pak is. No one knows.
But what we do know is Pak’s NFTs are as cryptic and mysterious as their identity.
While some describe their artworks as a “portal to a world of new possibilities”, “uncanny” and other vague phrases and words, some describe them as worthless and useless.
Say what you wanna say about their art, but one thing you can’t deny is that Pak is breaking all boundaries of what is art and what is value.
More than the art itself, you can attribute Pak’s success to their marketing, community and the hype they create before their launches. That’s what makes them one of the best NFT artists in the world right now.
Unlike other creators, Pak’s distribution strategy is quite unique. Take The Merge, for example, which sold more than 260,000 units and made $91.8 million, the most expensive NFT ever.
There are other NFTs in their catalog that are also highly successful, like The Fungible, Lost Poets and X.
3. Hackatao
Hackatao is an Italian duo who started creating art in 2007 before moving to NFTs in 2018.
They are among the more serious artists, with most of their art containing cryptic messages about societal, political and environmental issues. One such artwork is the Flood, which sold for 250 ETH, around $870,000.
Both the artists in the duo have a very distinct artistic style and expression from each other, which makes the artwork all the more striking and engaging.
It also goes well with their artist name, Hackatao. “Hacka” refers to a hacker, as in hacking the boundaries of art and creativity, and “Tao” as in the Yin and Yang.
Their LOL artwork is another great example of that.
4. FEWOCiOUS
Victor Langlois, who goes by FEWOCiOUS, is probably one of the youngest and best NFT artists to make it big.
Despite being only 19 years old, FEWOCiOUS has sold multiple NFTs at premium price points. One of the highlights of his career is Hello, i’M Victor (FEWOCiOUS) and This Is My Life, which sold for a whopping $2.16 million.
Through most of his art, FEWOCiOUS expresses his abusive childhood memories and traumas, growing up as a transgender man.
Other artworks with similar themes include I Taught Myself How To Fly, When a Child Feels Lost, Overthinking Again, The Everlasting Beautiful, etc.
There’s no doubt that this kid is destined to do great things in the future, and we’re looking forward to it.
5. Trevor Jones
Not only is Trevor Jones one of the best NFT artists, but also one of the most popular names in and out of the NFT market.
Trevor is known for taking inspiration from traditional pieces and adding a crypto-twist to them, if you will. His highest-selling piece, Bitcoin Angel, which sold for $3 million, is one great example.
Probably his second most popular artwork is in collaboration with comic book artist Jose Delbo called Genesis. It was originally a pencil sketch of Batman, reimagined in oil on canvas by Trevor.
His ability to combine art with technology such as crypto, AR, QR and so on will take him places.
6. Refik Anadol
Refik Anadol is unlike any artist on this list. Refik is doing a terrific job of taking AI and other technologies to reach the depths of human imagination and create art never seen or heard before. And it’s only getting better.
He’s truly breaking all boundaries of art, creating new ways of interacting with artworks that we’ve never thought of before.
The artwork he created in collaboration with NASA, Machine Hallucinations, is one hell of a trip. It’s created with AI data, an AR sculpture and, most interestingly, an NFT room, which is a new concept, allowing you to immerse and experience art in a totally new way.
7. 2LAU
Justin David Blau, better known by his DJ name 3LAU, is changing the music scene for the better with NFTs.
On the third anniversary of his super-successful album, Ultraviolet, 3LAU became the first artist to sell his music album as an NFT. He sold 33 NFT pieces, accumulating a total of $11.7 million.
It’s safe to say that his risk to move to NFT with his album paid off well. But he didn’t stop there.
He grabbed everyone’s attention in the NFT and music space again when he launched his first-ever NFT-based music platform, Royal, that allowed fans to own a piece of their favorite music and earn royalty, along with the artists.
Diplo, Nas, The Chainsmokers, Logic, among many others, released their music on Royal.
We better keep an eye on 3LAU and what he has in store for music and NFTs.
8. Mad Dog Jones
Shifting gears, Mad Dog Jones creates artworks leaning more towards dark themes and environment. Most of his work contains imagery of dystopia and cyberpunk while also exploring the beauty and aesthetic side.
The Replicator, his most expensive piece, sold for $4.1 million, is the perfect artwork to get introduced to Jones and his style.
Unlike some other artists on this list, Jones prefers the old-school way of hand-drawn or photography-rendered art. However, he does use animations and effects to enhance his artwork.
Mad Dog Jones is hands down one of the best NFT artists right now, and there’s no doubt he’ll continue to make a bigger impact on the NFT space.
9. XCOPY
Continuing the dark and dystopian theme, no one does it better than XCOPY.
Just like Pak, XCOPY is also an anonymous NFT artist.
XCOPY was one of the earliest adopters of NFTs and blockchain technology and, therefore, has one of the largest catalogs any NFT artist has.
When it comes to their art, they have a distinct and consistent style, often with underlying themes of death and dystopia. Most of their artwork, if not all, has a loopy, flashy, in-your-face type of imagery.
A Coin for the Ferryman is the most expensive piece they ever made, which got sold for more than $6 million.
XCOPY’s unique style and messaging in his artworks with the mystery surrounding his identity makes him one of the best NFT artists of 2022.
10. Bored Ape Yacht Club
Ending this list on a lighter note, YachtClub is an NFT duo of Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow, who initially started out anonymous until February 2022.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is a series or collection of NFTs of apparently bored apes owned by Yuga Labs.
BAYC went viral when mainstream celebrities started buying them, including Eminem, Justin Bieber, Stephen Curry, Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Hart, just to name a few. These stars paid around $200k to $1 million for each piece.
Since it became so mainstream, it received a lot of flack and polarizing opinions. Some say they are totally worthless and only selling because these big names are pushing them, while others say they are like the new Jordans.
Whatever it is, if there was one artist, or a group of artists, in this case, that pushed NFTs to the forefront of pop culture in 2022, it’s the BAYC. Hence, we must list them as one of the best NFT artists.
Final Thoughts
These were the best NFT artists of 2022 that are shaping the future of digital art.
Whether you’re someone who flips NFTs or buys them for personal collection, we suggest you keep an eye on these folks to stay ahead of the curve.