6d071, 2024

Acrylic on 290g paper

Size: 14.8x21cm

Unique

Price upon request

For inquiries about the work, please contact us at info@katevassgalerie.com

Description:

“MEV (Maximal Extractable Value)” is a body of work by Kevin Abosch, where obfuscated cryptographic hashes manifest as layers of alphanumeric hexadecimals, painted in acrylic on paper. Abosch’s approach confronts the unseen mechanisms behind digital transactions and the invisible hand of algorithmic intervention in markets. MEV bots, short for Maximal Extractable Value bots, are automated agents designed to exploit blockchain transactions by manipulating transaction order and front-running trades, allowing the extraction of maximum profit at the expense of other participants.

By abstracting these cryptographic marks into a tangible medium, Abosch bridges the digital and physical realms, exposing the raw aesthetic of algorithmic predation and the complex power structures embedded within the blockchain ecosystem. The work invites contemplation on the opaque forces driving contemporary finance, highlighting both the beauty and brutality of a system that operates outside human visibility yet profoundly impacts reality.

Exhibited at Untitled Miami Art Fair, Miami, Kate Vass Galerie Booth A43, December 2024

5p318, 2024

Acrylic on 290g paper

Size: 14.8x21cm

Unique

Price upon request

For inquiries about the work, please contact us at info@katevassgalerie.com

Description:

“MEV (Maximal Extractable Value)” is a body of work by Kevin Abosch, where obfuscated cryptographic hashes manifest as layers of alphanumeric hexadecimals, painted in acrylic on paper. Abosch’s approach confronts the unseen mechanisms behind digital transactions and the invisible hand of algorithmic intervention in markets. MEV bots, short for Maximal Extractable Value bots, are automated agents designed to exploit blockchain transactions by manipulating transaction order and front-running trades, allowing the extraction of maximum profit at the expense of other participants.

By abstracting these cryptographic marks into a tangible medium, Abosch bridges the digital and physical realms, exposing the raw aesthetic of algorithmic predation and the complex power structures embedded within the blockchain ecosystem. The work invites contemplation on the opaque forces driving contemporary finance, highlighting both the beauty and brutality of a system that operates outside human visibility yet profoundly impacts reality.

Exhibited at Untitled Miami Art Fair, Miami, Kate Vass Galerie Booth A43, December 2024

5f029, 2024

Acrylic on 290g paper

Size: 29.7x42cm

Unique

Price upon request

For inquiries about the work, please contact us at info@katevassgalerie.com

Description:

“MEV (Maximal Extractable Value)” is a body of work by Kevin Abosch, where obfuscated cryptographic hashes manifest as layers of alphanumeric hexadecimals, painted in acrylic on paper. Abosch’s approach confronts the unseen mechanisms behind digital transactions and the invisible hand of algorithmic intervention in markets. MEV bots, short for Maximal Extractable Value bots, are automated agents designed to exploit blockchain transactions by manipulating transaction order and front-running trades, allowing the extraction of maximum profit at the expense of other participants.

By abstracting these cryptographic marks into a tangible medium, Abosch bridges the digital and physical realms, exposing the raw aesthetic of algorithmic predation and the complex power structures embedded within the blockchain ecosystem. The work invites contemplation on the opaque forces driving contemporary finance, highlighting both the beauty and brutality of a system that operates outside human visibility yet profoundly impacts reality.

Exhibited at Untitled Miami Art Fair, Miami, Kate Vass Galerie Booth A43, December 2024

8e044, 2024

Acrylic on 290g paper

Size: 14.8x21cm

Unique

Price upon request

For inquiries about the work, please contact us at info@katevassgalerie.com

Description:

“MEV (Maximal Extractable Value)” is a body of work by Kevin Abosch, where obfuscated cryptographic hashes manifest as layers of alphanumeric hexadecimals, painted in acrylic on paper. Abosch’s approach confronts the unseen mechanisms behind digital transactions and the invisible hand of algorithmic intervention in markets. MEV bots, short for Maximal Extractable Value bots, are automated agents designed to exploit blockchain transactions by manipulating transaction order and front-running trades, allowing the extraction of maximum profit at the expense of other participants.

By abstracting these cryptographic marks into a tangible medium, Abosch bridges the digital and physical realms, exposing the raw aesthetic of algorithmic predation and the complex power structures embedded within the blockchain ecosystem. The work invites contemplation on the opaque forces driving contemporary finance, highlighting both the beauty and brutality of a system that operates outside human visibility yet profoundly impacts reality.

Exhibited at Untitled Miami Art Fair, Miami, Kate Vass Galerie Booth A43, December 2024

4p012, 2024

Acrylic on 290g paper

Size: 14.8x21cm

Unique

Price upon request

For inquiries about the work, please contact us at info@katevassgalerie.com

Description:

“MEV (Maximal Extractable Value)” is a body of work by Kevin Abosch, where obfuscated cryptographic hashes manifest as layers of alphanumeric hexadecimals, painted in acrylic on paper. Abosch’s approach confronts the unseen mechanisms behind digital transactions and the invisible hand of algorithmic intervention in markets. MEV bots, short for Maximal Extractable Value bots, are automated agents designed to exploit blockchain transactions by manipulating transaction order and front-running trades, allowing the extraction of maximum profit at the expense of other participants.

By abstracting these cryptographic marks into a tangible medium, Abosch bridges the digital and physical realms, exposing the raw aesthetic of algorithmic predation and the complex power structures embedded within the blockchain ecosystem. The work invites contemplation on the opaque forces driving contemporary finance, highlighting both the beauty and brutality of a system that operates outside human visibility yet profoundly impacts reality.

Exhibited at Untitled Miami Art Fair, Miami, Kate Vass Galerie Booth A43, December 2024

A8e051, 2024

Acrylic on 290g paper

Size: 14.8x21cm

Unique

Price upon request

For inquiries about the work, please contact us at info@katevassgalerie.com

Description:

“MEV (Maximal Extractable Value)” is a body of work by Kevin Abosch, where obfuscated cryptographic hashes manifest as layers of alphanumeric hexadecimals, painted in acrylic on paper. Abosch’s approach confronts the unseen mechanisms behind digital transactions and the invisible hand of algorithmic intervention in markets. MEV bots, short for Maximal Extractable Value bots, are automated agents designed to exploit blockchain transactions by manipulating transaction order and front-running trades, allowing the extraction of maximum profit at the expense of other participants.

By abstracting these cryptographic marks into a tangible medium, Abosch bridges the digital and physical realms, exposing the raw aesthetic of algorithmic predation and the complex power structures embedded within the blockchain ecosystem. The work invites contemplation on the opaque forces driving contemporary finance, highlighting both the beauty and brutality of a system that operates outside human visibility yet profoundly impacts reality.

Exhibited at Untitled Miami Art Fair, Miami, Kate Vass Galerie Booth A43, December 2024

Front-Runner, 2024

Acrylic on 290g paper

Size: 21 x 14.8cm

Unique

Price upon request

For inquiries about the work, please contact us at info@katevassgalerie.com

Description:

“MEV (Maximal Extractable Value)” is a body of work by Kevin Abosch, where obfuscated cryptographic hashes manifest as layers of alphanumeric hexadecimals, painted in acrylic on paper. Abosch’s approach confronts the unseen mechanisms behind digital transactions and the invisible hand of algorithmic intervention in markets. MEV bots, short for Maximal Extractable Value bots, are automated agents designed to exploit blockchain transactions by manipulating transaction order and front-running trades, allowing the extraction of maximum profit at the expense of other participants.

By abstracting these cryptographic marks into a tangible medium, Abosch bridges the digital and physical realms, exposing the raw aesthetic of algorithmic predation and the complex power structures embedded within the blockchain ecosystem. The work invites contemplation on the opaque forces driving contemporary finance, highlighting both the beauty and brutality of a system that operates outside human visibility yet profoundly impacts reality.

Exhibited at Untitled Miami Art Fair, Miami, Kate Vass Galerie Booth A43, December 2024

Shadows Study, 2022

Fine Art Print + Video work

Size: 60 x 40 cm

Exhibited at "Art Salon Budapest - Interthinking" exhibition

Description:

With Shadow Study, I investigate the interplay between light, form, and perception, using machine learning algorithms and AI to build a "weak model" trained on hundreds of my own images of shadows cast by human figures. The output of the model is a tangle of shadows that resembles abstract graffiti more than the result of human forms occluding directional light. The shadow becomes a space of transformation, where hidden elements challenge our understanding of form. Far from mere absences, shadows hold the potential to reveal what lies beyond the object that casts them. This work reflects my long interest cryptography and how studying the process of encryption itself—without necessarily decrypting—can offer insights into hidden structures. Like encrypted data, shadows distort their origins, shaped by external forces that alter perception.

Through the intervention of AI, the logical connection between object and shadow dissolves, creating space for new interpretations and possibilities. The psychological "shadow," as Carl Jung describes, also informs this work. Through abstraction, Shadow Study explores identity and the unconscious, using digital media to unearth hidden truths. Shadows—both literal and metaphorical—reveal the boundary between perception and truth.

Contemporaneous Cryptographic Redirection, 2024

Fine Art Print

Ed. of 3 + 1 AP (each unique in size)

Sizes:

• Small: 90 x 60 cm

• Medium: 106 x 70 cm

• Large: 137 x 90 cm

PRICE UPON REQUEST

Description:

“I have used the blockchain as a method in my practice since 2013. But I was already playing with cryptography well before the blockchain existed. My father was in MI5, the counter-intelligence branch of the British military during World War II. He was a German Jew, but had Czech papers so he was able to serve as an intelligence officer. Although he was Jewish, had they known he was German he could only have served on the front lines. In any case, he shared the most fantastical stories about the kinds of weapon you read about in 007 novels as well as cryptographic methods to send secure messages or decrypt enemy communications. I think this played no small part in my interest in encryption.”- Kevin Abosch

Exhibited at POSITIONS Berlin Art Fair, Berlin, Kate Vass Galerie Booth A18, September 2024

A Poem for Papa, 2024

Fine Art Print

Ed. of 3 + 1 AP (each unique in size)

Sizes:

• Small: 90 x 60 cm

• Medium: 106 x 70 cm

• Large: 137 x 90 cm

PRICE UPON REQUEST

Description:

“I have used the blockchain as a method in my practice since 2013. But I was already playing with cryptography well before the blockchain existed. My father was in MI5, the counter-intelligence branch of the British military during World War II. He was a German Jew, but had Czech papers so he was able to serve as an intelligence officer. Although he was Jewish, had they known he was German he could only have served on the front lines. In any case, he shared the most fantastical stories about the kinds of weapon you read about in 007 novels as well as cryptographic methods to send secure messages or decrypt enemy communications. I think this played no small part in my interest in encryption.” - Kevin Abosch

Exhibited at POSITIONS Berlin Art Fair, Berlin, Kate Vass Galerie Booth A18, September 2024

SOLD OUT

Nail S2, 2019

Archival Pigment Print

GAN trained on artist's own photographs of bent nails

Size: 17" x 17"

Exhibited at “Automat und Mensch” show, Zürich, Kate Vass Galerie, 2019

I AM A COIN, 2018

Signed in marker on front by the artist
Mylar foil pouch, marker, artist's blood, cotton cloth
Size: 12 x 22 cm

Exhibited at “Perfect and Priceless” show, Zürich, Kate Vass Galerie, 2018-2019

Description:

In the aftermath of the sale of photograph “Potato #345” in 2015 for €1 million conceptual artist Kevin Abosch found the attention migrating from the artistic value of his work to the monetary value.  In response to feeling like he was being treated like a commodity, Abosch decided to tokenize himself on the Ethereum blockchain, effectively creating 10 million virtual artworks entitled IAMACOIN. He also made 100 physical works on paper stamped using the artist's own blood, with the IAMACOIN contract address comprised of 42 alphanumerics, corresponding to the creation of the the 10 million virtual works. 

The virtual works are standard ERC-20 tokens and token owners are free to share these artworks and even divide them into smaller pieces before sharing. Indeed, they are divisible to 18 decimal places.  

Abosch says, “While the virtual work could exist without the creation of the physical work, the physical artworks could not have a meaningful existence were it not for the creation of the virtual artworks. In this sense, the work mirrors the unidirectional mechanism of a cryptographic algorithm — With a private key you can deduce the wallet address, but with the wallet address you cannot deduce the private key.”

In 2018, The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia showed Abosch’s installation “Personal Effects”, five canvas sacs imprinted with blockchain wallet addresses, each containing a quantity of IAMA Coins but because the private keys to these wallets have not been saved, they are virtually dead. Abosch sees these virtual artworks as pieces of himself and therefore exist as relics or personal effects.

In “Perfect & Priceless” Abosch presents a Mylar-foil pouch containing a piece of cotton cloth impregnated with the artist’s own blood. The declaration “I AM A COIN” is written on the front of the pouch along with the blockchain contract address for IAMACOIN.

PRICELESS, 2018

Signed in pencil by the artists on front
Archival pigment on paper
43 x 127 cm
2 of 3 unique pieces

Exhibited at “Perfect and Priceless” show, Zürich, Kate Vass Galerie, 2018-2019

Description:

Abosch has been using blockchain addresses as proxies to distill emotional value for some time now, and with Weiwei has “tokenized” their priceless shared moments together such as "sharing tea" or "talking about the art market" are the building blocks of human experience. All moments in life are priceless. Each priceless moment is represented by a unique blockchain address which is “inoculated” by a small amount of a virtual artwork (crypto-token) we created called "PRICELESS" (symbol: PRCLS). Only 2 ERC20 tokens were created for the project, but as they are divisible to 18 decimal places, these works of virtual art could potentially be distributed to billions of people. Furthermore, a very limited series of physical prints were made.

The digital works, the PRICELESS token (symbol: PRCLS) is an ERC20 token on the Ethereum Blockchain. Only 2 tokens were created for the project, but as they are divisible to 18 decimal places, these works of virtual art could potentially be distributed to billions of people.

The physical works feature blockchain contract address alphanumerics. Each wallet is filled with a nominal amount of PRCLS token, validating the wallet and symbolically inoculating the moment. An ethereum wallet is used for sending and receiving the Ether currency. Each wallet has a long address, similar to a bank account number. The difference between a contract address and a personal wallet address is that contract addresses can also receive data.

The Size of the Holes

from PRICELESS project by Kevin Abosch & Ai Weiwei 

These works feature blockchain wallet-address alphanumerics representing different "priceless moments" shared between the artists. Each wallet is filled with a nominal amount of PRCLS token, validating the wallet and symbolically inoculating the moment.

Edition 3 + 2 AP

Collective Unconscious, 2022

Unique Print accompanied by an NFT

Signed by the artist

Print size: 200 x 300 cm

Series: RAY-D OH! AKTIV

Still image NFT, Edition of 3 + 2AP

Price: 3 ETH or CHF

Series: RAY-D OH! AKTIV

Link on OpenSea: https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0xac2b4956f54f9f1c51c1ecfc8391756b30aed736/1

List of works:

1. Collective Unconscious, 2022

Ed. 1/3: https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0xac2b4956f54f9f1c51c1ecfc8391756b30aed736/4

2. Supernova, 2022,

Ed.2/3: https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0xac2b4956f54f9f1c51c1ecfc8391756b30aed736/11

3. Generative Installation I., 2022,

Ed. 2/3: https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0xac2b4956f54f9f1c51c1ecfc8391756b30aed736/2

4. Endless Summer, 2022

Ed. 1/3: https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0xac2b4956f54f9f1c51c1ecfc8391756b30aed736/13

5. Once Again, Entropy, 2022,

Ed. 1/3: https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0xac2b4956f54f9f1c51c1ecfc8391756b30aed736/7

6. Stairway Pilgrimage, 2022,

Ed. 2/3: https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0xac2b4956f54f9f1c51c1ecfc8391756b30aed736/17

7. Symposium, 2022

Ed. 1/3: https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0xac2b4956f54f9f1c51c1ecfc8391756b30aed736/22

8. Dahlia, 2022

Ed. 1/3: https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0xac2b4956f54f9f1c51c1ecfc8391756b30aed736/25

Video work, NFT, Edition of 3 + 2AP

9. Decommissioned, 2022,

Ed. 1/3: https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0xac2b4956f54f9f1c51c1ecfc8391756b30aed736/19

Price: 6 ETH or 9000 CHF

Please find the complete gallery of artworks with titles at the bottom of the page

ABOUT THE SERIES:

Conceptual artist Kevin Abosch explores the emotionally charged iconography of both nuclear energy and nuclear weaponry using proprietary and off-the-shelf machine-learning tools to create a body of work comprised of synthetic imagery and product design. In 2013, Abosch’s Intimate Portraits of Killing Machines appealed to the viewer to engage with his mannered photographs of weapons of war and see themselves reflected in the work. 10 years later the artist asks us to take a step back when viewing the synthetic photographs in Ray-D Oh! Aktiv and allow the nostalgia of nuclear aesthetics to mingle with the fascination we have with technology that can sustain or obliterate.  Abosch has also produced a very limited number of plush-toys in the shape of nuclear missiles fostering intimacy with the unthinkable.

RAY-D OH! AKTIV (Plush toy), 2022

AI-generated Plush Toys

Edition: Edition of 300 (100 each)

(The price does not include shipping)

Conceptual artist Kevin Abosch explores the emotionally charged iconography of both nuclear energy and nuclear weaponry using proprietary and off-the-shelf machine learning tools to create a body of work comprised of synthetic imagery and product design. In 2013, Abosch’s Intimate Portraits of Killing Machines appealed to the viewer to engage with his mannered photographs of weapons of war and see themselves reflected in the work. 10 years later the artist asks us to take a step back when viewing the synthetic photographs in Ray-D Oh! Aktiv and allow the nostalgia of nuclear aesthetics to mingle with the fascination we have with technology that can sustain or obliterate.  Abosch has also produced a very limited number of plush-toys in the shape of nuclear missiles fostering an intimacy with the unthinkable.

“Self portrait?” (2019-2020)
From upcoming book “Nascent Space”

unique 1/1 + AP (for museum exhibitions only)

Untitled (2019) / generative photograph from “Nascent Space” (2019-2020) 
archival pigment print on Hahnemühle baryta
17 x 22 in (43.2 x 55.9 cm)
unique 1/1 + AP (for museum exhibitions only)

Camera (2019)
From upcoming book “Nascent Space” (2019-2020) 
archival pigment print on Hahnemühle baryta
17 x 22 in (43.2 x 55.9 cm)
unique 1/1 + AP (for museum exhibitions only)

Never say clever (2019) / generative photograph
archival pigment print on Hahnemühle baryta
17 x 22 in (43.2 x 55.9 cm)
unique 1/1 + AP (for museum exhibitions only)

Cash AOC (2019) / generative photograph from “Nascent Space”
archival pigment print on Hahnemühle baryta
17 x 22 in (43.2 x 55.9 cm)
unique 1/1 + AP (for museum exhibitions only)

НАЛ (Cash) (2020) / generative photograph from “Nascent Space” (2019-2020) 
archival pigment print on Hahnemühle baryta
17 x 22 in (43.2 x 55.9 cm)
unique 1/1 + AP (for museum exhibitions only)