Since 2019, Kristen Visbal, the artist behind fearless girl Statue of famous confrontation with iconic Wall Street figure charging bull, already fight a legal battle Oppose companies funding installations.
Advertising agency McCann commissioned the sculpture as part of a marketing campaign by asset manager State Street Global Advisors, which covered production costs. Once the sculpture was installed, it went viral on International Women’s Day 2017. Visbal produced 25 additional editions of the work, each priced at $250,000. State Street sued, alleging that the artist infringed its trademark by making unauthorized copies.
Now, Visbal is making NFTs as a way to raise money for her $3.3 million legal bill and to promote the statue’s feminist message.
“This lawsuit basically ruined my life,” she told Artnet News.
“In the beginning, I said, ‘Forget it. I’m not a digital artist—I can’t do it,'” Visbal said. “But I am fearless girl In every sense, not only in my lawsuit, but also trying to forge these NFTs in a community I’m just starting to be a part of, I’m really enjoying it! “
Fearless Girl NFT from “Stargazer Collection.” Courtesy of the artist. ” width=”875″ height=”1024″ srcset=”https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2022/05/fearlessgirl2-875×1024.png 875w, https://news.artnet.com /app/news-upload/2022/05/fearlessgirl2-256×300.png 256w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2022/05/fearlessgirl2-43×50.png 43w, https://news .artnet.com/app/news-upload/2022/05/fearlessgirl2.png 960w” sizes=”(max-width: 875px) 100vw, 875px”/>
Christine Wisbal, fearless girl NFTs from the “Stargazer Series”. Courtesy of the artist.
this fearless girl NFT declinetitled “Superstar,” in partnership with digital art firm 9ifxA phased release is in progress.
A micro-movie (less than two minutes) called Super star depict fearless girl Like a galloping comet, a blur of light travels through the solar system, landing triumphantly on the cobblestones of Bowling Green in an exploding burst of stardust.
The digital art is priced at 3.05 ETH ($7,500) for an edition of five. Visbal also sells from Super star exist open sea. The first of five segments fell last week.
Fearless Girl NFT from “Stargazer Collection.” Courtesy of the artist. ” width=”1024″ height=”667″ srcset=”https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2022/05/T1-H-1024×667.jpg 1024w, https://news.artnet .com/app/news-upload/2022/05/T1-H-300×195.jpg 300w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2022/05/T1-H-50×33.jpg 50w ” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”/>
Christine Wisbal, fearless girl NFTs from the “Stargazer Series”. Courtesy of the artist.
There is also a shorter animation called “Interstellar Collection,” 3.65 ETH ($9,000), 22″ fearless girl Bronze miniature, sold of 125 editions.
The final part of the drop includes “stargazer seriesDifferent Views of the Seven Trading Cards fearless girl, Against the backdrop of a spinning nebula. Each card will be sold for $750 for 0.20 ETH ($500). Visbal is working with 9ifx to generate unique colors for everyone’s backgrounds.
But the big-ticket item that will go live on May 24 is “superstar combination,” which includes a full-scale bronze statue and an animated film, priced at 104.56 ETH ($257,500) for one edition.
Fearless Girl NFT from “Superstar Collection.” Courtesy of the artist. ” width=”1024″ height=”590″ srcset=”https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2022/05/Whitlist-Image-1-1024×590.png 1024w, https://news .artnet.com/app/news-upload/2022/05/Whitlist-Image-1-300×173.png 300w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2022/05/Whitlist-Image- 1-50×29.png 50w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”/>
Christine Wisbal, fearless girl NFTs from the “Superstar Collection”. Courtesy of the artist.
The NFT represents Visbal’s first new work since the statue’s debut.
“I traveled, talked everywhere, and I didn’t charge anything,” Visbal said. “My time is really monopolized by lawsuits, so I’ve never been creative.”
She hopes that NFT collections will provide an opportunity to rebuild Fearless girl. “The ideal behind fearless girl Has been taken down from the corporate branding message,” she said. “But I made her live for the public, and I be damned, determined to see her used for the good of the people. “
State Street intends to use the sculpture to promote its Gender Diversity Index SHE, an exchange-traded fund that invests in women-led companies. At the time of creation, women held only 18 percent of leadership positions at State Street.State Street Corporation, its parent company, later $5 million lawsuit settled with underpaid female and black employees.
Fearless Girl. Photo by Federica Valabrega. ” width=”1024″ height=”683″ srcset=”https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2022/05/8ae5b847-fe3e-472d-9a72-906fcca164b7-1024×683.jpeg 1024w, https ://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2022/05/8ae5b847-fe3e-472d-9a72-906fcca164b7-300×200.jpeg 300w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/ 2022/05/8ae5b847-fe3e-472d-9a72-906fcca164b7-50×33.jpeg 50w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”/>
Kristen Visbal and her work fearless girl. Photo by Federica Valabrega.
“We have the opportunity to fearless girl Educate the public about women’s equality, women’s empowerment, women’s education, equal pay for women, and support for women in leadership positions,” she said. “But not even mentioning one of these in the sign shows State Street’s intention to raise awareness about board diversity. s concern. “
The future of the original statue is currently in limbo. In April, the city’s public design committee determined the work’s Temporary licensewhich has extend again and againwhich will eventually expire in 11 months, and will need to find a permanent arrangement before it can be shown publicly.
“New York has to decide if they want an artwork that’s going to be used as a corporate brand,” Wisbal said. “If they didn’t want that to happen, I’d replace the State Street cast with my own artist certification. I suggested it in January, but no one in the mayor’s office was willing to admit a very gracious Gift.”
Christine Wisbal fearless girl on the New York Stock Exchange. Photo by Drew Angler/Getty Images.
At the heart of the conflict is the contract between Visbal and State Street for the rights to reproduce and sell the work.
“I don’t know State Street, but I’ve been told they paid $250,000 for the license, and I’m very grateful,” she said. “They said, ‘We can use fearless girl The image of our SHE fund?I say “of course” and then I extend an image forever to the right because free. “
“It was a very, very big mistake,” she added. “I shared something with them, but it wasn’t enough for them because they wanted it all.”
“This statue was not given to SSGA for free,” a State Street representative told Artnet News in an email. “SSGA paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for the production of the Fearless Girl statue and for the unveiling and events surrounding it, including licensing the installation and fabrication of the sculpture, and more specifically, payments to Ms. Visbal and other vendors (such as , another sculptor, fabrication shop, foundry involved in the project.”
the statue is called fearless girl in New York City’s financial district. Photo by Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images.
As the legal battle continues, fearless girl NFT descent has been slow to take off. Visbal admitted that there were no sales at the time of our interview.this Super star Movie clips on OpenSea have only 16 views.
“It’s a huge challenge,” she said. “It’s not enough fearless girl It is an iconic work, and it is not enough for us to send 16 articles in the past two days. You need someone to build relationships within the crypto community, preferably for at least a year. “
This release is also the latest Cryptocurrency Crashthe prices of currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as popular NFT collectibles such as cypherpunks, have plummeted.
Fearless Girl NFT from “Stargazer Collection.” Courtesy of the artist. ” width=”877″ height=”1024″ srcset=”https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2022/05/FGT3.1-877×1024.jpg 877w, https://news.artnet .com/app/news-upload/2022/05/FGT3.1-257×300.jpg 257w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2022/05/FGT3.1-43×50.jpg 43w , https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2022/05/FGT3.1.jpg 1541w” sizes=”(max-width: 877px) 100vw, 877px”/>
Christine Wisbal, fearless girl NFTs from the “Stargazer Series”. Courtesy of the artist.
“I think fearless girl Probably not to the taste of older men aged 18 to 34 who buy NFT art — so I want to attract women in finance into the field,” Visbal said. “My NFTs are expensive, but bronze sculptures are very expensive. We put a lot of effort into this – it’s worth it. “
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