SuperRare is about to get super real.

Next month, the popular NFT marketplace will launch a pop-up gallery in New York’s SoHo neighborhood—its first IRL initiative. Open May 19 through August 28, the SuperRare Gallery will host a rotating program of five NFT shows, some organized by the company’s in-house curatorial team, others by guest curators. 

The platform’s senior curator An Rong will helm the first presentation, a survey of 15 futurist NFT artists whose work explores sci-fi themes inspired by cyberpunk landscapes—Botto, Krista Kim, and Alex Ness among them. 

But “Visions from Remembered Futures,” as the show is called, will steer clear of the dystopian fare often associated with such work; instead, it will “celebrate the newly liberated freedom of expression for artists amid a digital art Renaissance, a break from the conventional art world traditions and politics,” according to the exhibition description.

Other programs planned for the gallery include shows dedicated to Pride Month, curated by Nicole Ruggiero, Samantha Carey, and Laurel Charleston; Black digital artists, curated by Malian artist Inna Modja; and two-dimensional digital painting, organized by SuperRare.

“I’m so excited we’re bridging the world of digital and physical with an incredible selection of NFTs in person this summer in NYC,” SuperRare co-founder and CEO John Crain said in a statement. “Artists are using NFTs to push boundaries in art. The SuperRare gallery has been designed to celebrate the medium and create immersive experiences that bring this art to life.”

SuperRare is taking over SoHo… #SuperRareGalleryhttps://t.co/dvc3MzF9IG pic.twitter.com/2Tr2zodk9R

— SuperRare (@SuperRare) April 28, 2022

While the gallery will take over a SoHo storefront in May, it’s not to be confused with the digital “storefronts” that will make up SuperRare Spaces, the company’s newly announced initiative that allows independent users to curate—and even commission—their own NFT exhibitions on the platform. Until now, the platform’s curators hand-selected each artist featured on the site. 

Access to SuperRare will be granted through a new proprietary “curation token,” called $RARE. (The advent of coins has become something of a trend among major NFT businesses that are seeking to create real-world value and utility for their users.)

“While we’re incredibly proud of how the SuperRare Labs team has led curation over the last 3 years, we also recognize we’re not the only ones with an eye for undiscovered talent and artistic value,” the company explains on its website. “Nor should we risk becoming the digital version of the gatekeeping galleries we sought to disrupt.” 

$RARE, the site explains, is a “means to identify and empower new curatorial talent in the SuperRare community.”

The post The Popular SuperRare NFT Marketplace Is Opening Its First Brick-and-Mortar Pop-Up Gallery in SoHo appeared first on Artnet News.

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