Trending since 2018, Vincent Faudemer evolves with his convictions and conveys messages about consumer society. The real success of his NFT collection « Babolex » allows the contemporary artist to now turn the spotlight on the world of cryptos, with a conviction: blockchain technology could transform certain aspects of society.
Entirely plated with silver nitrate, dressed with shiny costumes of all colors on a pedestal, he now carries the slightest product and logo of prestigious brands. Through the artistic mind of Vincent Faudemer, the famous elephant king, hero of the cartoon Babar, has become a kind of new muse of the giants of luxury. Supreme, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, or very recently Rolex: nothing escapes him.
Already nicknamed « the little prince of contemporary art » by Forbes Magazine (France), Vincent Faudemer has not finished surprising the world with his work. With the many celebrities and personalities who follow his creations, he now relies on NFTs and wants to see even bigger.
The childhood symbol: an artistic thread as a success factor
The Babolex phenomenon
Between Vincent Faudemer, in his thirties, and Babar the elephant, the timeless one, it is somewhat a great love story. A story that began in 2018 when the artist, with his Jeff Koons-like inspirations, reworked the cartoon character. His idea: to pair it with the most famous Swiss watch brand « Rolex »: He just gave birth to Babolex! A project that sounds like a clever mix between innocent childhood memories and luxurious consumption with extravagant looks.
A bronze sculpture and a painting with chrome later, the artist from Caen has just given life to his « contemporary Babar ». The character who makes nostalgic whoever sees him, has become « bling-bling ». Still wearing a green suit, he now has a Rolex around his wrist, and his yellow king’s crown is now a reminder of the Swiss brand’s logo.
When Vincent Faudemer unveils the elephant he has reappropriated for good, his career takes a real turn. That day, the world was spellbound at the Fashion Memories exhibition at the Palace Plaza Athénée. The artist from Caen had chosen to match a Babar sculpture to each major luxury brand: colors, key accessories such as the famous Chanel bag, to each Babar its own prestigious brand.
A worldwide reputation
With such a project, the artist from Caen has managed to conquer the hearts of many industrialists, entrepreneurs, stars and sportsmen from all over the world. He even became a kind of favorite. The upper echelons snatch up his works from the first auction held in Monaco in September 2018.
There follows a journey around the world, crowned by meetings with personalities who admire his work. One particular day, he received a rather unusual phone call. The heirs to the rights to The Little Prince gave Faudemer the right to produce an exclusive series based on Saint-Exupéry’s work: a real « honor » for the artist, who was moved by the opportunity to work on the character he had grown up with.
Raising awareness of modern consumption patterns with the help of NFTs
From the very beginning of this marriage between the cartoon hero Babar and the Rolex watch brand, Vincent Faudemer has one certainty. He already knows that he will not limit his works to the real world. On the back of each of the 8 unique sculptures in the very first Babolex collection was the Bitcoin logo.
This is how the artist launched the NFT Babolex collection on the Solanart platform. We find the same idea around the character of Babar, this time in a 100% digital version. The whole was accompanied by Golden tickets, directly inspired by the physical trading cards that Faudemer had marketed. So he decided to digitize the same concept.
Currently, at least 1,235 people own more than 6,000 Babolex NFTs. Even better, the phenomenon is growing in the digital world. The Caen artist’s NFT collection has surpassed records on Solanart (SOL) with a trading volume of over 182 SOLs in just 24 hours.
His crypto project is very important to him as it also hides his ambition to pass a strong message about an ultra-capitalist world that puts more and more emphasis on consumption. A real fundamental question that Vincent Faudemer wants to raise in his own way. This is how he tries to push his community to think differently about how to buy, sell or own artworks.
Art for a good cause
This crazy adventure on the background of artistic performances is not limited to « the feeling of leaving his mark » for the Caen sculptor. He uses his creativity to support various causes. As soon as the success of Babolex began in 2018, he decided to donate one of his creations to the Prince Albert II foundation, before it was sold for 40,000 euros at a charity gala focused on the preservation of biodiversity.
At the same time, the artist spends his energy in charity projects such as the one he realized through a collaboration with the Marseilles rapper Soso Maness. Collaboration that aimed to provide meals to poor people.
With a creativity that one would think would be flawless, Vincent Faudemer is experimenting with other famous cartoon characters like Hello Kitty. Always looking for reinvention, he is also about to launch his brand new NFT collection “AlienX”, which some people must already be burning with anticipation to discover.
