Tyler Hobbs is arguably the poster boy of generative art and the most eloquent champion of code as a creative medium. A former software engineer with a side passion for (figurative) drawing and painting, he discovered the potential of abstract, algorithm-assisted art a decade ago and began writing relatively simple programs that could create multiple variants on a theme. Running, tweaking and repeatedly re-running these programs, Hobbs has developed a uniquely ‘painterly’ digital aesthetic rooted in non-digital ‘system’ art and Abstract Expressionism.
Now 35, Hobbs is perhaps best known for the 2021 Fidenza series of 999 NFTs generated by a single algorithm. Just one Fidenza NFT sold for $3.3m, with critics charging hype and hysteria. Hobbs, though, has managed to do what few NFT-producing generative artists have: separate artistic speculation from crypto speculation. He has emerged from the rubble of the crypto collapse with a reputation undimmed and demand for his work as feverish as ever. And as attention shifts away from collectible cartoons and toward generative art of…
