Chadwick Boseman memorialised in Andre Oshea’s NFT artwork for Oscars, yet denied posthumous award

Late actor Chadwick Boseman has been memorialised in an NFT artwork by Andre Oshea, commissioned to be part of the Oscar Nominee’s gift bag at last night’s event and being auctioned to raise funds for The Colon Cancer Foundation. However, after the best actor award was given to Anthony Hopkins and not posthumously to Boseman – as was widely predicted – some viewers were left feeling the project was in poor taste. The Oscars gift bags are in fact put together by media company Distinctive Assets and not affiliated with the Oscars or AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences), and therefore were highly unlikely to have been organised in tandem, but outwardly it has slightly backfired.

There is a more positive story behind the artwork’s maker, though. The 28-year-old 3D artist and animator is a fairly emerging talent, making strides with projects for Adult Swim, Vogue, Netflix, Snapchat, John Legend and Tidal. Oshea’s work explores futurism and surrealism through digital renderings, often depicting a recurring figure of a Black woman and floating objects in fantastical worlds. He recently pivoted to NFT work, saying that this medium has “really changed my creative process… Now I focus less on making clients happy and entirely on my own creative visions and explorations. I also take immense pride in being a Black man and NFTs allow me to bring that into my artwork in really cool ways.”

Oshea’s artwork pays tribute to Boseman’s legacy after the actor died from colon cancer in 2020, and aims to celebrate Black creativity in cinema and art, portraying the actor as a gold statue. The artist commented on his Instagram: “The way to immortalize an artist, is to honour them with art.” The artist is represented by Black NFT Art, an NFT creative agency founded by Iris Nevins and Omar Desire, to support Black artists in the NFT sector.

Digital impressions of the artwork were given to all Oscar nominees, while the full, one-off artwork is being auctioned on Rarible until 28 April, expected to go for $1.2 million, with proceeds donated to The Colon Cancer Foundation.