The .gems team is happy to welcome back Heidi Taillefer for her 2nd NFT drop on the WAX Blockchain, the Vintage Valentines.
After successfully releasing the Frogs Series 2021 as a commentary on ecological issues, Heidi now turns her focus to human emotions such as love, passion and desire. Valentines cards are a classical representation of these emotions and the small gestures people perform to signal affection and Heidi took these as a subject to meditate on what brings our hearts in motion.
In a series of 8 paintings Heidi Taillefer explores an aspect of Eros, from lust and revenge, to perversion and regret, delving deeper and deeper into the nature of desire and giving these a visual identity of their own.
The Vintage Valentine series was conceived to mimic turn of the century valentine’s day cards, reflecting an era when society pretended to hide the more salacious habits of so many people during that time. The idea was born of a romantic relationship gone awry and the series was produced over the span of a decade, which was a first attempt at contemplating more deeply on a theme to bring about diverse interpretations. It was a prominent NY art dealer who suggested a more erotic approach to these traditional cherubs, going so far as to suggest pornographic imagery which was rejected in the end, except for milder elements suggesting eroticism. – Heidi Taillefer
In addition to the the bare skin one might expect from such a series, Heidi also added her signature mechanical elements, turning the classical Eros into a cyborg or android of sorts. She masterfully combines the uncanny feeling of transhumanism with cheerfulness, nature and vibrant colors. A romantic yet dystopian scene unfolds which invites reflection on self optimization, beauty standards and on how far people go to experience being loved. In that sense, the perversion shown in the works becomes an accurate representation of modern culture, in which which Valentines Day became more a feast of consumerism than of tenderness and love. Heavy stuff, we know, but when we flip the card Heidi puts it all in perspective with a humorous message and our mood gets lifted instantly
While 6 of the 8 original works have already been sold (6500$ each), some of these amazingly detailed paintings are currently on display at the Jano Lapin Gallery in Montréal, Canada for you to experience in person. Visit the gallery’s Vintage Valentine webpage if you’re interested in purchasing one of these remaining pieces.
Vintage Valentines NFTs
Date: end of April
Details: 8 Valentines, 10 mints each, 100$
Drop link: coming soon
While the original paintings are probably too valuable and fragile to post them to a lover, we decided to publish digital editions of these artworks and bring Vintage Valentine Cards to the digital age as NFTs. These digital cards can be sent instantly without any risk or cost and, in this way, we are re-introducing the original purpose of valentines cards that originally inspired Heidi.
Each NFT is a high resolution digital reproduction and comes with a handwritten message by the artist on the backside. Exactly like one would do with a post card.
Collectors who want a sneak peek at some of the art that is contained in the upcoming NFT release are invited to browse Jano Lapin’s Vintage Valentines webpage for a taste of what is to come.
As always, all our releases are certified carbon neutral as explained in our Green NFT Manifesto.
We are proud and honored to continue to work with such a dedicated and extremely talented artist and are looking forward to sharing more of Heidi’s work with our community of NFT collectors.
