Artist Raoul Marks has magazine covered with a token offering

Raoul Marks is constantly surprising himself. The Fremantle-based creative has been named as one of 100 arts game-changers in The List – Arts and Culture, published in The Australian.

Raoul Marks has been named as one of 100 arts game-changers in The List – Arts and Culture, a glossy magazine published on Friday in The Australian. Picture: Colin Murty

Raoul Marks is constantly surprising himself.

The 39-year-old two-time Emmy-award winning designer and NFT artist was astonished when a work he created with Chinese artist Jia Aili sold at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong last month for $HK3.27m ($587,000).

He was taken aback when a simple video he made of an astronaut plunging through a mercurial firmament was downloaded more than 40,000 times worldwide and transformed into an Instagram meme.

And now the Fremantle-based creative has been named as one of 100 arts game-changers in The List – Arts and Culture, a glossy magazine being published on Friday in The Australian.

“It’s really humbling and ­surprising,” Marks said of his ­inclusion in The List.

“But it’s ­exciting, too, that the broader arts sector is becoming aware of the relevancy of digital art and NFTs.”

My Father had a Garden, created for The List by Raoul Marks, is now for sale as a non-fungible token.

To celebrate the inaugural publication of the magazine, Marks designed a bespoke artwork for The List. My Father Had a Garden, which features on the cover, is from today available for sale, the proceeds of which will go towards a charitable fund for emerging artists.

The List features profiles with luminaries such as Australian Ballet superstar Callum Linnane, international music star The Kid Laroi and best-selling author Hannah Kent.

The 92-page insert also explores the boom in gallery building around the country, the resurgence of musical theatre, the new generation of philanthropic leaders and television streaming services’ major investments in local productions.

Marks is no stranger to plaudits. The Emmy winner is well known for helping create the opening credits to some of television’s biggest hits – Westworld and True Detective among them.

And the 39-year-old understands better than most the inner workings of the emerging art market. He is, after all, one of the country’s best-known NFT artists, well regarded in the online realm for his Astro ­series of artworks.

As well as his auction success in Hong Kong, Marks was recently invited to show at Boston’s famous Pellas Gallery, which “hung” the works in a traditional exhibition format on framed, high definition screens.

An NFT is a unique token, or certificate, that proves ownership and provenance of a piece of digital content. NFTs, which cannot be copied, are bought and sold online, usually using cryptocurrency.

Marks said he understood there might be animosity from the art world about the rise of NFTs in the traditional cultural space, but it should not be viewed as zero-sum game.

“I don’t see it as competition,” he said. “I think of NFTs as an addition; it adds to the broader audience experiences of the art sector. NFTs are a new way of making art for a new audience. Art always needs to renew itself.”

“(The Sotheby’s sale) really for me validated the idea that there can be a conversation between traditional art and the crypto sphere ... NFTs really are a global response to the art world. I think that (sale) also suggests the future possibilities in that space.”

The international NFT market reportedly is worth $2 billion a year, with some forecasters predicting the market will grow exponentially during the next five years. In 2021, the market experienced a phenomenal 21,000 per cent growth, according to Fortune magazine.