A visual storyteller's tryst with NFT

It's NFT time in Kochi's ever-evolving art world. After two back-to-back NFT group shows, a young visual artist is hosting Kerala's first solo physical NFT exhibition in Naseef Gafoor, who hails from Ponnani of Malappuram district displays his four major artwork series in the show titled ‘Each ray is an escape. Just peep.’

The show takes place at Durbar Hall from July 20-24.

Gafoor, 32, identifies himself as a storyteller and it is his never yielding quench for sharing stories that made him explore and focus his passion on NFT.

By profession, Naseef is a freelance photographer and director who works predominantly for various advertisement agencies. He majorly specialises in architectural and product photography and directs brand films, short content videos, stop motions, cinemagraphs etc.

Juggling between tight schedules of shoots and projects doesn’t stop him from chasing his true passion. He constantly made time to play around with fresh notions and ideas using still photographs to now augmented reality. His entire artistic journey was driven by a sheer desire to tell stories that are different and unique.

Naseef’s works have already been exhibited in Utopian Dystopia - the art, design and tech festival held in Kochi. Two of the series from the collection ‘Each ray is an escape. Just peep’ with the title ‘Shades of You, World of Yin & Yang,’ are photographs consisting of eight photographs each. The third series named ‘The Parallel World’ showcases videos in four screens and the final series ‘Portrait of a Canvas ‘ utilizes the latest technology of augmented reality.

Naseef is a keen observer, and when it comes to photography, his eye for detailing and describing things in minimalistic settings is evident in his works, be it professional or personal. The advancement in digital medium facilitated him to explore more means of storytelling. Only one year has passed since he discovered NFTs' greater storytelling potential and his first NFT release was on July,2021. It has taken him only a few months to sell six of his works. 

His shift to the new age platforms and NFT largely reflected his idea of ownership and accessibility of artworks. “Creating stories through advertisement is a totally different concept. Being a concept-based mixed media artist, I found this platform highly creative and engaging, you get to learn from worldwide artists around, build a community who shares new ideas and express value for the art you have created, and of course, your art travels the universe, find good market, and the ownership is legit here.” says Naseef on the merits of the crypto art.

Naseef is a keen observer, and when it comes to photography, his eye for detailing and describing things in minimalistic settings is evident in his works, be it professional or personal. The advancement in digital medium facilitated him to explore more means of storytelling. Only one year has passed since he discovered NFTs' greater storytelling potential and his first NFT release was on July,2021. It has taken him only a few months to sell six of his works. 

His shift to the new age platforms and NFT largely reflected his idea of ownership and accessibility of artworks. “Creating stories through advertisement is a totally different concept. Being a concept-based mixed media artist, I found this platform highly creative and engaging, you get to learn from worldwide artists around, build a community who shares new ideas and express value for the art you have created, and of course, your art travels the universe, find good market, and the ownership is legit here.” says Naseef on the merits of the crypto art.