Trevor Jones is an artist well known for his non-fungible token (NFT) artwork and his use of augmented reality to create contemporary abstract and realist paintings with a focus on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.^[1]

In 2020, Jones's paintings broke NFT auction records. On July 23, his one-of-a-kind piece ‘Picasso’s Bull’ sold for $55,555.55 to Pablo Rodriguez-Fraile of the Museum of Crypto Art (MOCA) on Nifty Gateway.^[2]

In October 2020, a collection of Batman art by Trevor Jones and José Delbo sold for a combined 540.86 ETH, or about $200,000. The art was auctioned on NFT marketplace MakersPlace.^[3][4]

On Feb. 25 an open edition NFT artwork by Trevor Jones titled “The Bitcoin Angel” sold 4,157 editions within 7 minutes at a price of $777 each, for a total of almost $3.29 million.^[5][6]

Education

Trevor graduated from the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh College of Art with an MA (Hons) Fine Art with distinction in 2008.^[1]

Career

Jones started his career in the art world with seven years spent as a Drawing and Painting instructor at Leith School of Art. This was followed by six years as the director of the national charity Art in Healthcare from 2008 to 2014, where Jones explored the connection between art and physical health and coordinated prestigious exhibitions within hospitals and other healthcare settings throughout the country. After 7 years of working there, Jones left the organization to focus on his art career.^[1][7]
Trevor's first foray into the world of art and tech began in 2012 with QR codes. He thought it was good because at the time many artists around the world weren't using it. He built an online platform where other artists could upload their work and those paintings "became a window to another dimension of art". "That was my first foray into technology and using it as a window for people to dive into the final form or the inspiration or the history," he said.^[8]

In 2016, he created a series of political portraits on the US elections – including paintings of President Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. One individual bought all 10 paintings in the series.^[7]

He initially became involved in the blockchain space in June 2017 by investing a little money into cryptocurrency.  In 2019, Trevor explained how he went about blending augmented reality into his work: "It’s been a long process. It’s been about six-and-a-half years working with augmented reality and so it’s kind of gone back and forth sometimes."^[7]

In 2018, Jones showcased a series of augmented reality oil paintings exhibition called Crypto Disruption in Edinburgh at the Dundas St. Gallery that was specifically focused on a cryptocurrency theme, with works of art titled "The Hodler", "The Bear", and "The Bull".^[9]

Other titles of paintings include "Satoshi", "The Agony", "The Ecstasy", "The Genius", and "The Entrepreneur". Several short videos were created in tandem for each painting to better express the meaning or feelings related to the artwork. Viewers can download a special app, CreativMuse, both for Android and Apple, and scan the artworks to engage the AR features.

He revealed that "The Ecstasy" is one painting he really enjoyed creating because it brought together “the old and the new”. "The Ecstasy" is based on a 15th-century sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini called the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. In particular, he enjoyed “reinventing it, giving it new meaning through cryptocurrency”.^[8]

Trevor has another painting in the series called "The HODLer" which represents the virtue of patience, stepping back, conducting due diligence, and having trust in something. He has also painted popular figures in the crypto space including John McAfee, Vitalik Buterin, and Brian Armstrong.^[8]

Trevor's latest series consists of 15 paintings. He’s going to be interpreting some particular cryptocurrencies like EOS, Binance Coin, Monero, Litecoin, Bitcoin, and Ethereum. He explained to Coin Rivet that he will be taking "Picasso's cubist style from the early 1900s and then reinterpret the cryptocurrency logos into a cubist style painting".^[10]

NFT Artwork

In 2018, Jones received an invitation for his work to be featured at a U.K crypto conference the following year: “I was invited to show some of my work at CoinFestUK in Manchester in April 2019,” he said. “It was my first crypto conference so there was a lot for me to take in. I ended up chatting with David Moore, the CEO of the NFT art marketplace KnownOrigin. He was trying to explain the concept behind NFTs to me.”^[11]

That is when Jones first explored the non-fungible token (NFT). “It was 5 or 6 months after my conversation with David, around September when I began noticing a lot more artists appearing on Crypto Twitter and talking about NFTs and the various marketplaces popping up,” said Jones.^[11]
Jones' first foray into NFTs comprised a collaborative work composed in partnership with fellow artist Money_Alotta called ‘EthGirl’. "EthGirl’s" auction sparked a heated bidding war before selling for 70 ETH on the SuperRare marketplace. Equating to roughly $10,080, the auction broke the previous record for the highest-valued artwork sold on SuperRare by 600%. Jones has since created one dozen NFTs over the course of nine months. When asked if he will continue creating NFTs, the artist said: “I’d be crazy not to!” “I see NFTs as a huge part of my future and the future of art and the art market in general,” he continued. “As the space grows and more sales like Picasso’s Bull occur the traditional art market will eventually catch on to the digital art market revolution.”^[11]

On July 23, 2020, ones’ one-of-a-kind piece ‘Picasso’s Bull’ sold for $55,555.55 to Pablo Rodriguez-Fraile of the Museum of Crypto Art (MOCA) on Nifty Gateway. The marketplace described the transaction as “shattering all previous records for the sale of digital artwork in the form of a non-fungible token” in an August 5 blog post revealing the sale.^[11]

In October 2020, a collection of Batman art by Trevor Jones and José Delbo sold for a combined 540.86 ETH, or about $202,000. The art was auctioned on NFT marketplace MakersPlace. There are five pieces in the collection, all animations or PNG files of the Dark Knight. The biggest spender was “Maxstealth,” a pseudonymous collector who also owns a handful of other high-value crypto art pieces.^[12]  He spent more than $55,000 on a Batman piece titled “Who is the Creator 2.” The highest price was for Genesis, a “striking pencil sketch and powerful inked work … [later] interpreted in oil on canvas,” which sold for 302.5 Ethereum, or about $113,000, at current exchange rates. Maxstealth beat competition from the likes of “Phillector” and “Museum of Crypto” to land the Genesis.^[13][14]

On Feb. 25 an open edition NFT artwork by Trevor Jones titled “The Bitcoin Angel” sold 4,157 editions within 7 minutes at a price of $777 each, for a total of almost $3.29 million.^[15][6]

Exhibitions

Selected Mixed Exhibitions

2019

• Bitcoin2019 Conference, San Francisco, USA
• CryptoCompare, London, UK
• Coinfest, Manchester, UK

2018

• Edinburgh Art Fair, Corn Exchange
• 'Innerscape', UNIONgallery, Edinburgh
• 'Annual Exhibition', Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh (Art in Healthcare charity fundraiser)

2017

• 'Bridges', Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh (Art in Healthcare charity fundraiser)
• Edinburgh Art Fair, Edinburgh Corn Exchange

2016

• Edinburgh Digital Entertainment Festival, The Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh
• Support in Mind Scotland, Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh
• Edinburgh Art Fair, Corn Exchange

2015

• Group Exhibitions, UNIONgallery, Edinburgh

2014

• "Winter Exhibition" La Galeria 1940, Edinburgh

2013

• 'Christmas Exhibition', UNIONgallery, Edinburgh
• Edinburgh Art Fair', Edinburgh Corn Exchange, Edinburgh

2012

• 'Spring to Summer', Leith Gallery
• '3 Harbours Arts Festival', Port Seton
• 'Bristol Affordable Art Fair, Bristol
• 'Mark of Beauty', UNIONgallery, Edinburgh
• 'Edinburgh Art Fair', Corn Exchange, Edinburgh

2011

• 'The Art of Leith', Out of the Blue, Edinburgh
• 'Plight of the Bumblebee' charity exhibition, UNIONgallery, Edinburgh
• 'Aberdeen Arts Fair', Aberdeen
• 'Usher Hall' solo exhibition, Edinburgh
• 'Small Works', exhibition, Leith School of Art, Edinburgh

2010

• 'Summer Cocktail', UNIONgallery, Edinburgh
• 'Contemporary Scotland', Flaubert Gallery, Edinburgh
• '4+ CLICK - Sargent fundraiser', East Wemyss, Scotland

2009

• ‘New Graduates’, Leith Gallery, Edinburgh
• '20-Year Anniversary', Leith School of Art, Edinburgh
• 'The Edinburgh School of Painting', Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, UK
• 'Expedition’, Leith Gallery, Edinburgh
• ‘Festival Show’, UNIONgallery, Edinburgh

2008

• Chessel Gallery, Edinburgh
• Prince’s Drawing Academy, London
• Matthew Gallery, Edinburgh
• Royal Scottish Academy Student Exhibition, Edinburgh
• Edinburgh College of Art Degree Show

Solo Exhibitions

• 2020 'Crypto Picasso', University of Edinburgh, (Opening November)
• 2018 'Disruption: The Art of Blockchain, Dundas Street Gallery, Edinburgh
• 2017 'Augmented Reality at the Parliament', Hollyrood Parliament, Edinburgh
• 2016 'Would I Lie To You? The Art of Politics and Propaganda', OOTB Drill Hall, Edinburgh
• 2015 '#EdinburghHacked', Dundas Street Gallery, Edinburgh
• 2014 'Winter', The Leith Gallery, Leith
• 2013 'Storytime and Augmented Reality", Usher Hall, Edinburgh
• 2012 'QR Codes: Technology Meets Art', Usher Hall, Edinburgh
• 2011 'The Poem of Ecstasy', Leith Gallery, Edinburgh
• 2011 'Trees for Life' charity exhibition, Out of the Blue, Edinburgh
• 2010 ‘Synaesthesia’, UNIONgallery, Edinburgh
• 2007 ‘Sick Kids Friends Foundation’ Charity fundraiser, Edinburgh

Private Collections

• United Kingdom
• Canada
• Germany
• Portugal
• Italy
• United States

Public Collections

• Stirling University Less
• Art in Healthcare
• Queen Margaret Hospital, Fife
• Victoria Hospital, Fife

Personal Life

Trevor is originally from Canada.^[1]

Trevor revealed that Picasso is one of his art inspirations while David Hockney is another. He is a fan of Hockney because "he’s got to be in his 80s now, and he's continually reinventing himself with interesting technology. He was using his iPad to create artwork when he was in his 70s, which is really cool." Trevor also likes to look at many contemporary artists "for more inspiration to see what these amazing artists are doing today in the world".^[10]