Prince Jacon Osinachi Igwe (born in 1991), commonly known as Osinachi, is a Nigerian visual and digital artist. Described as "Africa's foremost crypto artist," he often uses Microsoft Word as his medium. Osinachi was the first African artist to have his work digitally auctioned as an NFT by Christie's in Europe.
Growing up, Osinachi occasionally wrote poems and short stories before discovering his artistic voice while practicing on his computer's Microsoft Word.
He briefly worked in the Civil Service before committing fully to arts career.
Osinachi gained admission in University of Nigeria Nsukka to study library and information science.
Osinachi entered the crypto art scene in 2017. In 2020, he held his debut solo show, Osinachi: Existence as Protest, at the Kate Vass Galerie in Zürich, Switzerland. In 2021, Osinachi garnered attention for selling $75,000 worth of NFTs in 10 days.
Osinachi partnered with the Mohamed Amin Foundation to release NFTs for a catalog featuring 2.5 million and over 5,000 hours of video content. The project launched $Afrofuture, an Ethereum-based social currency.
In 2021, 1-54 and Christie's collaborated in an online auction of Osinachi's series Different Shades of Water, making him the first African NFT artist to be featured. The series was inspired by David Hockney's 1972 painting Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures). The artworks were displayed at Somerset House.
Osinachi's work has been described as "engagingly political, drawing from conversations on political matters, gender, tradition and race." Writing about the art market in 2020, curator Jason Bailey called Osinachi "the best of what the coming generation of artists has to offer."
In 2023, Osinachi's, The Other Pool Day an accompanying print of the Non-fungible token bearing the Nigerian artist signature was published by Taschen a German art-book publishing company as a book titled On NFTs: Art Edition No1-100 documenting profiles of 101 key artists in the NFT space, 10 academic essays on arts and the first of its kind survey in the arts contemporary medium. The print was available for purchase at $2,500 in crypto.
In 2023 Toledo Museum of Arts, Ohio announced that it will host the inaugural digital artist -in-residence as part of a strategy to integrate digital arts. Osinachi will be named as digital artist-in-residence affording him with an opportunity to explore stained glass and other physical materials. After eight months in Ohio, he completed Abitt: The Second Renaissance is Coming a characteristically vibrant portrait of a figure outside in a city with highway signs opposite a street art mural which was auctioned by Christie's. Osinachi during an art event said:
The artist served as the digital artist in residence at the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio, for a nine-month period concluding in December. This marked the artist's first time in the United States. The museum initiated the residency as part of a deliberate effort to engage with digital art, rather than responding to trends, while also supporting local artists.
In my work, in particular in Toledo, I make 1/1 art. ABITT is the model we go by; it stands for âÂÂArt Brings Toledo Together.â I do all my work using Microsoft Word. It is all about Toledo's past, present, and future. This quiet city is working together for the upliftment of Toledo. I had the pleasure of making a stained glass artwork during my residency here. At the residency, what we hope will happen, is that museums across the world see what weâÂÂre doing here and want to do things with digital artists, too.
A record label, Mavin Records collaborated with Osinachi in 2021 going on to merge and mint animated digital arts with Afrobeats music produced by record label executive, Don Jazzy.
Osinachi was named one of the 100 most influential Africans of 2022 by New Africa for "breaking Africa's crypto boundaries". He was a finalist for the 2019 Bridgeman Studio Award.
Osinachi is Igbo .His studio is based in Lagos.
When asked in an interview about artists that have influenced his process and style of work, Osinachi mentioned Nigeria visual artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby, American trio Tschabalala Self, Devan Shimoyama, Kehinde Wiley.