Overview
Each features a unique, hand-drawn, extremely colourful character known as ‘Space Monkey’. A very hard character to miss and even harder to ignore! Each collection currently resides on the OpenSea marketplace with ever increasing demand. Over Daleks career and time in the NFT space, he has amassed a following of over 13.5k people on twitter and nearly 60k on Instagram.
In this article we’ll learn more about Dalek, his iconic character, where it all started, and his upcoming generative project, NEOGEN SPACE MONKEYS!!
Who is Dalek?
James Marshall, better known as Dalek, is an American artist who’s been creating art for over 25 years. James was born to a military family in New London, Connecticut and in his younger years he moved around a lot, finishing high school in Japan, then living in Hawaii briefly before returning to the mainland USA. James currently resides and creates in North Carolina.
Artwork
Although Dalek is most well known for the Space Monkey character, he is also known for his photography, murals and illustrations. Dalek’s unique style is inspired and driven by his love of Japanese pop culture, the “vibe” of the punk scene, street art and cartoons.
In 2001, after realising he still needed some articulation when it came to his own work, Dalek started an apprenticeship with the renowned Japanese painter, Takashi Murakami, which greatly informed his own studio practice, colour mixing and other disciplines crucial to his process.
In 2007 he found himself withdrawing from the Space Monkey character and at one stage wanting to dissolve it all together. The result of this was layers of geometric shapes and explosive colours which became a larger driving force in his work. To this day he continues to explore the push and pull dynamics of opposing forces, the play between rigidity and fluidity.
Upon introducing Space Monkey to the NFT world, many people instantly fell in love with his unique character and style. Since then Dalek’s focus has been on building a strong community and delivering them high quality and innovative pieces of art based around Space Monkeys. Dalek continues to grow due to embracing many other communities and working hard to help develop this space as a whole.
Space Monkey Origins
James maintains that the Space Monkey is not a monkey at all, but instead a mouse. It’s his concept of a human being lost in a growing sea of technology and convenience. The Space Monkey was first rendered in 1995, on a wall in Connecticut and grew to become Dalek’s alter ego, a medium through which he expressed his emotions, ideas and concerns.
Dalek has partnered up with Doodle Labs to deliver an incredible generative collection of his artwork to the blockchain! Doodle Labs brings artists and brands to the Ethereum blockchain through the generative minting process. Each collection that drops on the Doodle Labs platform is created by an artist or brand, similar to how Art Blocks is a platform made up of various collections. Doodle Labs uses the generative minting technology that Art Blocks created. The animated element of these pieces add a final touch of pure finesse!
Dalek’s Neogen Space Monkeys project is all about fluidity, community, and getting incredible art into the hands of his fans. A concept that Doodle Labs back fully and actively seek in the projects they partner with. This high level of expectation from both Dalek and Doodle Labs means this is a project you’ll want to pay close attention to!
- Drop date: End of January — exact date TBA
- Total Supply: 8,888
- Whitelist supply: 4,444
- Whitelist price: 0.08 ETH
- Public sale supply: 4,444
- Public sale price: 0.15 ETH
To find out more about Whitelist spots and stay updated on the exact drop date, visit the Doodle Labs discord.
Accolades
Dalek’s work is critically acclaimed and has featured in numerous publications, articles and magazines such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Juxtapoz, and more. He has also participated in numerous solo and group shows throughout the US, Asia and Europe, has painted a number of murals and completed a variety of commercially-commissioned work for companies including Nike, Hurley, American Express, Microsoft, and Instagram.
Dalek Links
Neogen Space Monkeys Links
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