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Photo: Courtesy Maria Tokareva
While society has made major steps toward gender equality in the past century, many industries and trades still lag behind– including art, which despite being known for its boundary-pushing ethos, has continued to favor male artists over their women counterparts into the 21st century. Though there’s a near even 50-50 split between the genders in the art field, only 30 percent of gallery-repped artists happen to be women, while female artists simultaneously reportedly earn 19 percent less on average for their work than men.
Looking to be a catalyst of change to flip this disappointing gender gap on its head is Miami-based artist Maria “Masha” Tokareva, who’s up-and-coming Oct. 20 project will see her beloved Miss Frais paintings go online in a limited run of 6,969 non-fungible tokens (NFT), bringing the world of female-driven art for auction as a digital token for the very first time in the groundbreaking venture.
Since beginning her art career some six years back, the Colombian-Russian Tokareva has repeatedly broken barriers throughout the trade, showing her pieces at renowned fairs and various expositions across the world, including Art Basel. In 2018 alone, only 24 percent of Art Basel’s creatives displayed to the public were women, putting Tokareva in elite company and broadening her own perspective on the need for the inclusion of more female artists.
Photo: Courtesy Maria Tokareva
Art hasn’t been the only sector where Tokareva has made waves as a woman, however. Possessing a keen interest in cryptocurrency and burgeoning blockchain technology, where women only make up some 15 percent of all crypto investors, Tokareva has taken part in a number of tech-related events including the North American Bitcoin Conference, Art Decentralized Nikki Beach, and Blockshift Mana Wynwood.
Now, Tokareva has decided to blend these two passions — art and tech — into one seamless, buzzed-about foray powered by the Solana blockchain. The intimate NFT run of her signature Miss Frais paintings, which exclusively depict women in varying stages on the spectrum of human emotion, is set for debut at the end of this very October, providing the globe with the chance to own a one-of-a-kind digital version of paintings dreamed up by an authentic and self-empowered female artist.
While much work needs to be done to close the wide gap between male and female artists and crypto aficionados alike, Tokareva’s burgeoning dive into the NFT space is certainly a major step forward for the representation of women in the world of digital art, helping change surrounding society’s perspective on the subject one exclusive NFT sale at a time.
For more on Tokareva’s exciting new project, visit the Miss Frais NFT auction website for further information on how to get involved in purchasing a piece of history.
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