GRACKLEZ – Christy Stallop x Western Gallery

Austin artist Christy Stallop and I are revealing a featured exhibition of oil paintings, NFTs and paper dolls featuring a cast of beautifully rendered grackles in whimsical accessories.

The drop goes live Tuesday, April 12 at noon CDT, and runs through May 8, 2022. Join us for an opening reception on Instagram Live (@westerngallery) at 5pm that same day — we'll be talking about the project, demoing the paper dolls and taking Q&A.

Both oil paintings and primary NFT sales will take place at western.gallery.

Gracklez Take Flight from Fine Art Oil Paintings into the Metaverse

"When you stop and look at a grackle for a second, you'll notice that their coloration is much more complex than you perceive at first. There's a subtle rainbow of iridescence in their plumage that's really quite lovely," I said, describing why this particular bird felt like the right subject. Christy has managed to make a creature that many dislike into a thing of beauty through oil paint, while at the same time bringing out the quirky and fun aspects of the birds' personalities through their expressions and accessories. I thought they would be perfect for Western Gallery's first generative NFT project.

I'm a self-proclaimed tech nerd who founded the gallery in January of 2020 as an online-only venture. "The gallery industry was still in the stone age, and I couldn't see why it had to stay there." Opening just before the pandemic lockdowns began, that model turned out to be perfect for both artists and collectors stuck at home. Since then, most galleries have been pulled into the online space whether they were ready or not. Gracklez is the next step — pushing Western Gallery's tech-forward approach into the rapidly growing NFT space.

Meet The Multipotentialite and His Crew

Christy has been painting grackles for years. Her works have evolved into a cast of characters that reside all around Austin — and in collections around the world — turning the general perception of grackles as a nuisance completely on its head. And she's having a lot of fun doing it.

The Gracklez in this new body of work have several distinct personalities. The original painting used as the base for the NFTs is called The Multipotentialite, and each of the other traditional oil pieces are explorations of his multiple interests — depicting him living his best life. Meet the cast:

• The Grack of All Trades
• The Buckaroo
• The Reveler
• The Warrior (based on an actual Luchador wrestler)
• The Musician
• The Lover
• The Comedian
• The Bar Fly

Through the generative nature of the NFT collection, numerous variations and combinations of each are possible.

The Drop: Nine Paintings + 100 Unique NFTs

Nine oil paintings and 100 unique NFTs will be available upon the show opening. Each NFT features a grackle wearing a unique combination of accessories to express its personality. In addition to the digital image, each NFT also comes with a PDF of The Multipotentialite as a paper doll with all of his accessories — so you can dress him up however you wish.

The paper dolls are an analog for the generative NFT: a fun, tangible item to accompany the digital image, but also an explainer for how the generative NFT process works. Christy painted each accessory individually and sent photos to me. I then brought them into Photoshop and ran a script that "dressed" the bird in various combinations of outfits. Those images were uploaded to a distributed file server, ready to be minted as NFTs.

I'll be honest — digital collectibles are a bit of a stretch for Western Gallery and its patrons. Most are far more interested in actual paintings than a piece of art that requires additional technology to display. But I'm convinced that NFTs are here to stay, and my hope is to reach a new audience of collectors for the gallery, for Christy, and of course, for The Multipotentialite.