Social Marketplace HUG Brings the Cozomo de' Medici Collection and Emerging Artists to Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo

NEW YORK, Sept. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HUG, a social marketplace that connects digital artists with art lovers, announced today an Open Call for artists to submit their work to be showcased alongside six artworks from The Medici Collection at the iconic Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo, Japan.

Having closed a $5M round of seed funding led by DIGITAL, a Web3 investment fund whose portfolio includes Dapper Labs and MoonPay, with participation from OKX Ventures and L'Oréal's BOLD corporate venture fund earlier this year, HUG is now home to 4,000 independent digital artists across 85 countries.

"HUG's mission is to help every single artist become an entrepreneur and make a living off their art. In the past few months, we have delivered life-changing opportunities to hundreds of artists, placing them in galleries all over the world through our free-to-enter Open Calls", said Randi Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of HUG. "We could not be more thrilled to partner with Cozomo de' Medici, one of the most prominent names in digital arts, on this larger-than-life exhibition to give digital artists the stage and recognition they deserve."

The artists that will be displayed from The Medici Collection are Claire Silver, XCOPY, Sam Spratt, Dawnia Darkstone, Beeple, and Grant Yun. Artists interested in getting their artwork showcased alongside these pieces can submit their artwork directly on HUG's website at thehug.xyz from September 6 to 24, 2023.

Having adopted a community-led approach to curation since its founding in February 2022, HUG will open up voting to the public in order to shortlist 50 artworks, from which Cozomo de' Medici will select the final 6. Together, a total of 12 artworks will be displayed across 8 digital billboards at Shibuya Crossing from October 9 to 15, where an average of 2.5 million people cross daily.

In addition, HUG will be rolling out additional Open Calls in the coming weeks to put together the first community-curated shop that supports the sale of both physical prints and digital collectibles.

About HUG

Founded by Randi Zuckerberg, HUG is a social marketplace that allows artists to sell digital and physical goods, while connecting them with each other and fans of their work. Through a community-driven curation process, HUG spotlights diverse creators, including and especially those from underrepresented communities. Today, HUG is home to 4,000 digital artists spanning 85 countries, and thousands more art lovers.

For additional media queries, please contact [email protected].

SOURCE HUG