See art you can’t touch and maybe not afford at Bangkok’s debut NFT exhibition

Those who laughed when a duct-taped banana sold for US$120,000 and were blown away when a Nyan Cat GIF sold for $540,000 last month could be forgiven for thinking April Fool’s day came early two weeks ago when a JPG image sold for US$69 million.

On the same day that U.S. artist Beeple collected his record haul for an intangible work that can never hang on a wall, Thai artist Phurichaya Panyasombat sold her first work of blockchain NFT art for THB50,000 (US$1,600). And on Saturday, the crypto art trend will reach fad-forward Bangkok with the opening of an exhibition at a Sino-hip riverside venue.

“The news of Beeple’s NFT work drew a lot of attention from people in Thailand, and I’ve been observing NFT since the beginning of this year,” said Watjanasin Charuwattanakitti of Thonglor’s Palette Artspace, who is organizing the Mango Art Festival opening at…