Is Vanity Fair's new cover the strangest thing you'll see all year?

Watching Vanity Fair embrace NFTs is like seeing your gran on OnlyFans, it's something that should never happen. Ever. Too harsh? Then take a look at the conservative pop culture magazine's latest NFT covers, which depict romantic, furry mouse-people embracing and a psychedelic smoking skull woman… Okay, I quite like this one.

When Madonna gave birth to a tree for her NFT collection I thought I'd seen everything, but Vanity Fair's new covers collection is just as disturbing. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, enable artists to register their digital files on a blockchain, which we explain in our What are NFTs? feature. The technology is also leading to some very unusual digital art, leading to some believing NFTs are a new emerging art movement – something you may need to know when creating your first NFT.

The latest Vanity Fair NFT covers are from the Italian version of the established American magazine brand. The four 1:1 NFTs, created in partnership with APENFT and Valuart, were auctioned, and the fee rose from $120 to $24-$27,000. 

The four digital artworks are entitled ‘Say The Words That I Can’t Say’ by The Isolationist, ‘The Plum Thief’ by Coup of Grace, ‘Ludwig’ by Von Doyl, and ‘Ratty Portrait’ by Matteo Ingrao. Each takes on a theme and embraces the tools of digital art – from rendering images to combining scans, video and photography – to create something new.

Ratty Portrait catches my eye for all the wrong reasons. According to Vanity Fair it's designed as "a unique examination of reinventing the physical characteristics of the human body to achieve one’s self-acceptance". In reality it's a portrait of two sexy, hairy mouse-people embracing, and it's a bit uncomfortable.

But art should be challenging. NFT art is proving a disruptive art movement that is helping new artists find their voice, and that should be celebrated. NFTs have the ability to give a platform to many new artists who may have never seen the light of day before. NFTs can usher in a new visual language too, one that is dynamic, aggressive and experimental. 

If you want to learn more about NFTs, take a look at our guide to NFT trends, or read my interview with art curator Tina Ziegler where she outlines how NFT art can be revolutionising for equality. If you want to try NFTs for yourself, follow my tutorial on how to create an NFT for free.

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