The Interview I Art Collector Cozomo de' Medici
"Collectors are as responsible for the direction of modern art as the artists themselves." - Peggy Guggenheim
In this spirit, we continue our series of interviews with notable art collectors shaping the digital renaissance. Today, Kate Vass had the pleasure of sitting down with Cozomo de’ Medici.
Known for his sharp insights and bold approach to building a world-class digital art collection, Cozomo has become one of the most influential voices in the NFT space. From championing emerging talent to acquiring works from established digital masters like XCOPY and Beeple, Cozomo reflects on what it takes to define the art movement of our time.
In this exclusive conversation, Cozomo shares his thoughts on the parallels between the Renaissance and today’s digital art revolution, the role of community trends in shaping collections, and his philosophy on building a meaningful and timeless art collection.
Without further ado, we present our interview with Cozomo de’ Medici.
Tyler Hobbs, Fidenza #938, 2021
KV: Can you tell us about your collecting journey? Did you collect physical artworks prior to collecting digital pieces? What inspired you to start collecting digital art?
CM: My collecting journey started by accident.
I had dabbled a little in contemporary art before, but not enough to consider myself a collector.
Then, in 2021, I started hearing from friends about CryptoPunks.
I was intrigued and soon after, I found myself shopping for one.
But as I dug in through the Discord servers and group chats, I discovered a blossoming digital art community, with artists and patrons from all corners of the world.
A digital renaissance was underway, and I wanted to be a part of it.
And that made my Punk purchase even more important.
The Punk was to be my digital identity, but as you know, there are many in crypto who rep their Punks… so mine had to be unique.
Long story short, this led to my acquisition of a Zombie CryptoPunk in July of 2021.
What I intended as my first and only major art purchase, turned out to be the birth of The Medici Collection.
KV: How did you come up with the name Cozomo de’ Medici?
CM: The CryptoPunk I acquired - #3831 - was already known in the community as “CoZom”, for it’s a zombie punk with a COVID mask.
So the name too was partly a coincidence.
I then felt it was only natural to amend the name a little, to form my digital identity -
One that pays homage to the revolutionary Medicis of the past, while at the same time looking ahead to the future.
Larva Labs, CryptoPunk #3831, 2017
KV: What similarities do you see between the Renaissance and today’s digital art revolution?
CM: There’s one big similarity -
Digital art has long been a thing, since the 1960s.
But just now, thanks to the blockchain, it’s coming into prominence and reaching its full, groundbreaking potential.
There were plenty of great pictures from before the renaissance.
But that time brought out the very best of the medium, and masters that went on to define the very word “art”.
I feel we will see a new generation of digital art masters emerge from this renaissance, much like how masters of the physical canvas emerged from the previous one.
Operator, Human Unreadable #259, 2023
KV: As a well-known figure in the NFT and digital art community, how much do you feel the collective sentiment or trends in the community influence your collection choices?
CM: It impacts every collector, including me.
But here’s what I’ve learned…
Building a collection with a clear mission helps me from being too swayed by what’s happening day-to-day or week-to-week.
I cannot tell you how many artists I’ve chosen not to collect, only to see them completely stop making art or not make any significant progress in their art practice.
The key is -
You won’t get any kudos for not spending money or choosing not to collect what’s popular.
But making the right choices is what will compound over the long run and unlock what great collectors are really after:
An impeccable collection of art.
I don’t like to demonize following trends or collective sentiments.
And I feel the strong voice the community has is a great thing.
A good example is Comedian by the maestro Maurizio Cattelan.
I heard a collector or two say it’s perhaps the most iconic work of 21st century art.
And seeing how the community was really activated by the work, memeing it and even debating its merits - it’s hard to debate against it.
Together with Ryan Zurrer, we were actually the underbidders on the work, when it was sold this week at auction.
Sometimes, what’s popular is popular for a very good reason.
Helena Sarin, #adversarialEtching, after Modigliani, 2020
KV: Have there been moments where you've chosen to go against the grain?
CM: If you are collecting digital, you are going against the grain.
I have plenty of wealthy friends, that simply don’t want to take the risk of collecting digital art.
They have their gallery connections and would rather dabble in what is tried and true.
Many get lost in the nuances and debate that collecting X digital artists is more “going against the grain” than collecting Y artists.
But that misses the point.
So if you’re here acquiring and championing digital art, I salute you.
When I think of great collections that I admire, like the Rubells of Miami, what they have done is collect from a wide range of artists that represent the art scene of their times.
They’re painting a picture with their collection.
And that means striving to acquire the very best works from the masters of today, while also seeking out the next wave of talented artists.
It’s not one or the other… to build a great collection, you must do both.
My collection is a reflection of this core belief I have….
I collect works from artists I feel are not appreciated enough, like Goldcat, Jesperish, Niftymonki and many others…
Just like how I collect works from artists I feel have made a strong case for their place in today's art movement, like Helena Sarin, Sarah Meyohas, Beeple, Sam Spratt and of course… XCOPY.
Sam Spratt, VII. Wormfood, 2022
KV: You have a significant collection of works by XCOPY. When did you start collecting his art, and what drew you to his work?
CM: I started hearing about XCOPY almost immediately after I started collecting.
After speaking to collectors I deeply respected and artists of high regard, they all echoed the same point:
XCOPY is the defining artist of the crypto art movement.
He emerged from the Tumblr golden age, after a decade plus of making GIF art.
Then he finds crypto, minting across Ascribe, various now-defunct platforms, and on Ethereum, where he was an early artist minting on SuperRare.
His genre-defining works, his experiments with blockchain as a medium, and his aesthetics have overwhelmingly influenced the genre of crypto art.
I could keep going, but I felt his place in the movement was beyond question.
So then I set off on a quest to acquire what I could of his SuperRare series.
To be very honest, I never imagined having an XCOPY collection like the one I today have.
But as it would turn out, I found myself at the right place at the right time.
And my goal evolved to building a museum quality XCOPY collection.
After diving deep into his entire body of work and relentless research into his Tumblr archives, I realized X would be known for his character works.
So my first major 1/1 acquisition was his SuperRare genesis character work “Some Asshole”.
Followed by his genre-defining piece “Right-click and Save As guy”.
More recently, I’ve been fortunate to acquire what’s considered one of XCOPY’s best pictures “All Time High in the City.”
One interesting thing about X is that many of his great works are editions, so those too are represented in my collection.
Everything from his iconic “Last Selfie” to the cult classic “Mortal”, to his lesser known but critically important works like “VOID”, “Dirtbag” and “DE$CEND”
The last few works I mentioned were minted on now-defunct chains and platforms.
But with Dirtbag and other lost works, tokens still exist, preserving the history.
Collecting X is an ongoing pursuit, one I’m excited to continue.
XCOPY, All Time High in the City, 2018
KV: In the “Medici Minutes”, you share your collecting journey and insights. Why do you think it’s important to share these experiences?
CM: One of my favorite quotes about collecting is by Nasser David Khalili: ‘a true collector must not only collect but conserve, research, publish and exhibit his collection’.
I started the Medici Minutes to create a space to share my thoughts in longer form.
I wanted it to feel unfiltered, and just be my musing about art, collecting and crypto.
I also felt email was the best way to talk to tens of thousands of readers, in a personalized way, each week.
Each person who subscribes to the Minutes has raised their hand and identified themselves as someone who is interested in hearing more about digital art.
And each week, I try to share with them my learnings, mistakes and musings.
Claire Silver, complicated, 2021
KV: NFTs have introduced a new way to assess value in art, combining rarity with digital culture. How do you personally navigate between the financial and cultural value of a piece when deciding what to collect?
CM: In many cases, although not always, these two things go hand in hand.
And that’s a feature of crypto art - that culture that’s long been unable to accumulate value, finally can.
We’ll talk a bit more about this later in the interview, but I feel collecting strictly for financial reasons and building a collection are very different things.
Goldcat, Promise of Salvation, 2022
KV: In 2023, you donated 22 blockchain artworks to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Why do you feel it’s important for these works to be represented by a museum?
CM: By gifting a well rounded package of artworks, the goal was to seed LACMA’s crypto art collection and help them take the next step in collecting and contextualizing art that is truly of today.
Since that gift in early 2023, we’ve seen many more museums engage deeply with our art movement.
Ryan Zurrer, a great digital art collector, has done a fantastic job with the groundbreaking Refik show at MoMA and his global tour of Human One by Beeple.
Then there’s Deji Museum, which has just put on the first ever solo museum show of Beeple.
The fact that an American artist is having his first museum solo shown in Nanjing is very telling.
This movement is global.
And Toledo Museum of Art has set themselves apart with their Digital Artist in Residence Program and exhibit of Yatreda.
Overall, my goal with the gift was to help open the gates for institutional engagement from major museums.
And I feel it’s now well underway.
Beeple, Start Again, 2023
KV: How do you display your collection? We often see tailor made images of renaissance looking interiors with some cutting-edge digital piece in it? Do you create this yourself? Do you also relate to the space as creative?
CM: I feel displaying the collection - both online and in person - is important.
Those scenes you mention were a set of works I commissioned from the artist CharlesAI. I wanted to imagine what these works would look like, if they were hung in the Medici Villa.
For our Medici Emerging Collection, I loved to see MAB create a magnificent OnCyber gallery… something beyond my abilities and certainly, my wildest imagination.
Showing art in online galleries and simply also sharing it on social media is important. In a sense, everyone is a gallerist in today's art world.
But it’s also important to do IRL showcases.
One such example is, we partnered with W1Curates to do a Beeple exhibition in London back in 2023.
And it was a blowout success, with many hundreds queuing up for the opening.
We’ve done other shows with W1Curates, an annual TimeSquare exhibition, showings of the collection in partnership with SuperRare and others…
Today we’re more so working on our long-term exhibition programming, which includes institutional shows that take years to plan.
Niftymonki, Departure, 2023
KV: As someone with a platform, how do you decide which artists to support publicly? Do you ever feel the weight of responsibility in potentially elevating or overshadowing certain artists with your endorsement?
CM: I feel it’s important to support artists I collect from and those I don’t.
There are many great artists I admire, but I’ve missed out on works from.
Maybe I missed a DM from them or lost an auction for their work.
Or maybe it’s just an artist I don’t feel compelled to collect, but I feel is still stellar.
Whatever the case, it doesn’t hold me back from appreciating great artists and their work.
We run a weekly “Art Tank” where we acquire and showcase the next wave of promising artists.
And my team does a lot of work behind the scenes as well, giving advice and guidance.
I feel the success of an artist in our scene - whether it’s someone I collect or not - is good for our ecosystem.
DeeKay Motion, Life & Death, 2022
KV: With your visibility and influence, do you feel a sense of responsibility to shape the perception of NFT art in the broader art world?
CM: Not just me, I feel we all do.
No matter the size of following or depth of collection, I feel every collector and artist here feels a deep sense of mission to make sure the art of today is represented in the historical art canon.
And what’s special is that we’re all on this mission, together, to help these artists take their place in the history books.
Joe Pease, Open The Floodgates, 2022
KV: How do you balance personal taste with the role you play in shaping the market?
CM: I feel the market making effects is just that.
Effects.
It’s a byproduct of my collection building.
So I feel there’s nothing to balance, as it’s mostly something I can’t control.
Earlier this year, I posed this same question to one of the true titans of contemporary art, whose collecting activities also have the market-making effects you speak of.
And I loved his answer so much, that I will just repeat it here.
“Just buy great art at prices you can afford, and the rest will work itself out.”
Entangled Others, sediment nodes #7, 2024
KV: "There is in gardens a plant which one ought to leave dry, although most people water it. It is the weed called envy" (attributed to Cosimo de' Medici)
In the spirit of Cosimo de' Medici's reflection on the "weed of envy," where he saw art collecting as both a personal pursuit and a symbol of power, how do you navigate the tension between personal enjoyment of your digital art collection and the external perceptions of your wealth and influence within the Web3 space? Do you see envy as an inevitable aspect of digital art patronage today, much like it was in Cosimo's time?
CM: As a rule, I try not to sweat too much of anything I can’t control.
Envy towards you is one such thing.
Now, it’s also normal to feel envious towards others.
For example, there are many great collectors that I “envy”, who have works I wish I could have had.
It’s healthy to acknowledge when others have accomplished something noteworthy.
But channel it into productive energy and let it fuel your next big project.
Sandro Botticelli, Primavera or Allegory of Spring, circa 1480
KV: Given the intense highs and lows of the NFT market, how do you approach your public voice in the community during turbulent times? How do you maintain optimism when the market is struggling?
CM: For one, I am fully committed to being here for a long time.
That doesn’t mean I’m not sensitive to the volatility of crypto price movements, but I also appreciate that to some degree, all markets are volatile and over a long time frame, these things tend to resolve itself.
I’m also not a market expert, so I also just don’t know the nuances of all that’s happening in the financial markets.
It’s also not a point of great interest for me, beyond knowing what I must operate.
I also get great joy from seeing artists I support continue to make progress and break new ground.
And that progress happens, no matter what is going on in the markets.
Coldie, DEyes #028, 2022
KV: As NFTs straddle the line between art and asset, do you feel there’s a risk of commodifying art to a degree that dilutes its cultural significance? How do you personally navigate collecting as both an investment and as a support of creative expression?
CM: I like this saying from Artnome:
“Buy art you love, from artists that you want to see succeed, for prices you can afford, with the assumption that you'll never be able to resell it again… and you will always be happy”
I think that about sums it up.
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*The responses provided in this interview have been preserved in their original form, with no alterations to the interviewee's stylistic choices or grammar. - Kate Vass
Cozomo de’ Medici on X: @CozomoMedici
Collection: https://www.cozomomedicicollection.com/