Exclusive: Tyler Hobbs Unveils First Physical QQLs as Paintings

The Alpha:

From March 30 through April 22, Pace Gallery, a contemporary art institution, will host a physical exhibit featuring new work by Tyler Hobbs. Its New York gallery will be hosting the exhibition. This is Pace’s first dedicated exhibition to Web3 projects by a single artist.
The exhibition is called QQL : Analogs and will include 12 large-scale works by Hobbs, who developed a new algorithm called QQL with Dandelion Wist, a fellow generative artist.
These pieces are exclusive to nft Now. They were created by subtractive processes using a custom plotter, and hand-painted. Hobbs, speaking to nft, noted that these pieces reflect the influence of Sol LeWitt’s and Agnes Martin’s contributions to conceptualism, minimalism, and generative art.

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Due to the complexity of Tyler Hobbs’ June 2021 NFT Drop, Fidenza is considered a landmark in generative art projects. Fidenza is now one of Art Blocks most well-known and successful releases and one of the most highly sought-after generative NFT project in the Web3 community. The project currently has a floor price of less than 80 ETH and more than 55,146 Ethereum in secondary market trading volume.

Hobbs is well-known in this regard for his creative work in computation aesthetics. He uses a combination algorithm, paint and mechanical plotters to create his work. These are the same steps that lead to QLL Analogs.

The artist combined traditional painting techniques with robot tools to create the 12 large-scale pieces in the series. Hobbs refined the details of the paintings by hand after feeding code into a custom mechanical plotter. This resulted in physical manifestations Hobbs’ QQL outputs. QQL Analogs is a collaborative project between creators and collectors that reflects the unpredictable and chaotic world of Web3.

QQL: Analog #8. Credit: Tyler Hobbs/Pace Gallery

QQL: Analog #10. Credit: Tyler Hobbs/Pace Gallery

Ariel Hudes (Head of Pace Verso), in correspondence to nft now, stated that Tyler’s dual mastery in code and paint is evident in all of the works in the QRL: Analogs exhibit.

Tyler’s quiet undulations and subtle textures, reflected in small details, show that he is just as meticulous with a brush than he is with code. He is a natural fit to Pace Verso’s first venture into working with an artist that emerged from the Web3 space. This continues Pace Verso’s long history of supporting artists at the forefront in art and technology,” she said.

QQL: Analog #7. Credit: Tyler Hobbs/Pace Gallery

QQL: Analog #7. Tyler Hobbs QQL: Analogs

The QLL Analogs series’ roots date back to 2022. Hobbs created a website dedicated to QQL in September 2012. Here visitors could try out Hobbs’ algorithm for NFT generation. The website and algorithm encourage a combination of chance and control via a variety of tools. Density, scale, flow and other attributes can be controlled by users.

QQL has generated 21.5 million outputs worldwide since its inception.

QQL: Analog #9. Credit: Tyler Hobbs/Pace Gallery

Hobbs explained the nature of the project to nft, describing what it was like to engage with it. He noted that ” QQL Analogs is both an exploration of the QQL process and a celebration of its algorithm. Engaging with QQL is richer when you experience large-format paintings. The scale, texture and most importantly, the inexhaustible detail all add to the enjoyment.

Hobbs stated that the presentation might also encourage viewers to think about the systematic elements of painters they love and know, even though we don’t traditionally consider them to be generative artists.

Hobbs claims that the process he used in creating these works isn’t so different from those used by other artists. “Piet Montdrian, Agnes Martin and Richard Diebenkorn, Bridget Riley and Brice Marden spent many years creating intuitive rule sets that guided their compositions as well as their painting techniques. Although the algorithmic approach to QQL: Analogs is more obvious, it is simply an extension of a rich tradition of artists who have taken a systematic approach in their work.

QQL: Analog #2. Credit: Tyler Hobbs/Pace Gallery

What’s next?

The Pace Verso exhibit will feature the most recent high-profile exhibition of Hobbs’ work. It has already been displayed at NFT.NYC and Art Dubai as well as Unit London and many other international venues. Hobbs’ paintings were also featured in Christie’s and Sotheby’s auctions.

You can’t make it to New York? An online exhibit will be presented in conjunction with QQL. Analogs’physical show. It will feature QQLs created by other artists. QQL – Analogs coincides with Hobbs’ debut U.K. show, Mechanical Hand. It can be seen at Unit London, March 7 to 6, and features new paintings, drawings, and illustrations by Hobbs.