WME Signs AI Artist Claire Silver

Matt Donnelly
Updated ·3 min read

[Friday March 10] Update: The Louvre has contacted Variety with information that Claire Silver will not exhibit in its space. This story previously said Silver would show her work as part of an exhibition put on by Superchief NFT.

Second Update: Variety spoke with artist Claire Silver. The artist said she was approached by a representative from Paris Blockchain Week, an event featuring art exhibitions and keynote speakers from the digital space. The representative, she says, offered her a slot to exhibit at The Louvre via a company named Superchief. Silver accepted, and some time in the days surrounding that offer, signed for representation at WME. Variety attempted to clarify the situation for days, reaching out to numerous spokespeople including partner and Silver’s agent Chris Jacquemin. Silver said she is considering legal action against Paris Blockchain Week and Superchief for the misrepresentation of the offer to show in The Louvre. A representative for The Louvre confirmed Silver’s work would not be exhibited.

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Final update: A WME spokesperson responded to Variety saying, “It’s unfortunate that a third party misrepresented the details of this opportunity to our client Claire Silver. We fully support Claire and believe that she acted with integrity throughout this process.”

Previously: Claire Silver, an artist who collaborates with artificial intelligence, has signed for representation with WME.

The prolific Silver is known as an early adopter in the crypto and NFT space. Her current medium is post-photography, or the manipulation of data to enhance digital images.

Like many of her digital cohorts, Silver’s identity remains anonymous. Her work has sold at Sotheby’s London, on SuperRare, and has been exhibited in galleries, museums, and festivals all over the world. She is a noted advocate for exploring the use of AI in creative works, something show business has been sweating about in recent months. Fears abound that machines will eventually replace screenwriters, VFX houses and more.

Silver likens her work to that of a caveman painting fire, believing that AI sweeps away “the barrier of skill,” and that “in this evolving era, taste is the new skill.”  Her show is a collection titled “can i tell you a secret,” an autobiographical series of 100 post-photography pieces created with AI.

“It follows my life from childhood poverty in a cornfield town to the current digital reality I’m living, and focuses on cultivating a sense of intimacy between artist, viewer, and tool. One of the arguments I see used against AI-Collaborative work is that it’s ‘soulless,'” Silver writes in her artist statement. “I see AI as liberation, as an extension of the imagination, deeply personal, inexorable from the artist using it. I want this collection to challenge the notion of the machine overpowering the humanity inherent to art.”

In 2016, Superchief opened its first digital art gallery focused entirely on digital-native artists. In March 2021, Superchief Gallery NFT officially opened the world’s first physical in-person NFT gallery in New York. They have worked with Christie’s Auction House and produced in-person NFT events for Opensea, MakersPlace, UNICEF, and the United Nations.

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