Nate Freeman

@natefreeman.bsky.social

Culture Correspondent, Vanity Fair

Love it or hate it, there’s nothing like the unhinged spectacle that is Art Basel Miami Beach. I was on the ground to witness the crypto- and tech-billionaire-fueled spend-a-thon in a city that swung hard toward Trump in the last five years. My Vanity Fair story: www.vanityfair.com/style/story/...

Why Art Basel Miami Beach Was Ready and Waiting for the Trump Bump

The long-running fair’s host city is America’s current de facto crypto capital. This week, a month after the reelection of the country’s first meme-coin president, it is also a global destination for ...

vanityfair.com

My Vanity Fair story on the banana that sold for $6.2 million—a full history of the artwork, an in-depth explanation of how crypto kings got involved, and a dispatch from the scene of the auction. It’s a good one. www.vanityfair.com/style/story/...

The $6.2 Million Banana, Explained

Comedian, Maurizio Cattelan’s instant classic, sold for more than quadruple some estimates at Sotheby’s this week. How one work, and its worth, both satirizes and explains the meme-y days ahead.

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A quote from Justin Sun, who bought Maurizio Cattelan’s banana artwork for $6.2 million: “This is not just an artwork; it represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community.” He added that “in the coming days, I will personally eat the banana.”

It’s bananas! Maurizio Cattelan’s artwork “Comedian,” which is nothing more than a real banana duct taped to the wall, has sold at Sotheby’s for $6.2 million. The buyer is the crypto billionaire tycoon Justin Sun.