Known for his avant garde style across multiple art media, contemporary surrealist Charles Billich has often been a leader in innovative art techniques and creative works. The Australian artist’s latest project is no different, as he delves into the world of digital art and NFTs (non-fungible tokens) available across crypto currency markets.
Billich, a two-time United States Sports Academy Sport Artist of the Year, is currently producing NFTs to auction on Open Sea, the internet’s largest peer-to-peer marketplace for digital art. NFT stands for non-fungible token, which is a one-of-a-kind digital asset that belongs to one person. The most popular NFTs right now include artwork and music, but can also include videos and even social media posts.
The Billich project explores the digital art medium during the upheaval of the Covid-19 pandemic and brings his visionary art to life in full motion 3D for the first time ever.
In addition to the revolutionary project, the artist also produced an NFT piece dedicated to the Academy’s 50th anniversary, which will officially be celebrated on 22 April 2022.
The Academy’s 50th anniversary NFT, titled “Academy 2022” along with all of Billich’s art can be seen at https://opensea.io/BillichAlive. The piece depicts a globe with athletes in a wide array of sport poses above the Academy’s main entrance. Academy friends and family will immediately recognize the institution’s unique architecture, signature “Tribute to the Human Spirit” mural and greenery found around the campus in Daphne, Ala.
Billich, one of the most famous and prolific living Australian painters, was named the Academy’s Sport Artist of the Year in 2013 and 1999, joining renowned painter Ernie Barnes and sculptor Sergey Eylanbekov as the only other artists to win the award twice. Born in Croatia, Billich now resides in Sydney, Australia.
Billich’s cityscapes commemorating the Beijing 2008 Olympics, along with similar cityscape pieces marking the London 2012, Salt Lake City 2002 and Sydney 2000 Olympics are on display at the Academy’s American Sport Art Museum & Archives (ASAMA).
Inspired by his Beijing cityscape, Billich conceived a series of images based on the Bing Ma Yong Terracotta Warriors performing various Olympic sports, which are also featured prominently at ASAMA.
In a career spanning more than 50 years, Billich has created work shaped by personal experience. His art has been featured in popular venues such as the White House, the United Nations (UN) Headquarters and the Vatican. Billich won the Florence Biennale Lorenzo Il Magnifico Painting Prize at the 2009 Florence Biennale.
Billich created official images for the Australian and U.S. Olympic teams for Athens 2004 and exhibited at the UN Headquarters in New York. Hosted by the UN Friendship Club, Billich was invited back with his “Humanity United” collection in 2006. Billich also created “The World in Union,” the official image of the Rugby World Cup 2003. His piece “Humanity United” was created to commemorate the 2001 Centenary of the Nobel Prize for Peace. Billich was given the Olympic Gold Order by the French Ministry of Sport for his contributions to the French Olympic Team during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. He was named the Official Artist for the Australian team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Billich’s success as an artist is more remarkable given challenges he has had to overcome. In his early days, Billich was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Yugoslav government for his satirical articles in a local magazine. He received amnesty after two years in prison and sought asylum in Austria, where he studied art in Salsberg. He migrated to Australia at age 21 and continued his studies there, later opening his own gallery in Victoria. Billich sought to channel his emotions onto canvas, resulting in complex, fascinating and sometimes provocative subject matter. His clear sense of modern style is easily recognizable to all who view his work. During the many twists in his life’s journey, Billich developed his craft and clarified his unique aesthetic view.
Today Billich creates art in all media and specializes in sport, architecture, ballet, portraiture, stage and classicism.
