It’s Saturday afternoon, the weekend after a long lineup of NFT NYC festivities. A crowd of people are huddled outside of a CBD store on Prince St., watching artist Vinnie Hager draw on a door.
He had announced on social media the day before that he would be doing a live art mural at this location. He even changed the time last minute, yet droves of loyal supporters still showed up.
Hager takes his time. He doodles a little, stops to mingle and chat, and continues.
If you look closely, he’s using his blue marker to draw sequences of symbols unique to his style, called “Iconography.” Though he has thousands of symbols, some of his most signature icons include an envelope, a peace sign, or an eye.
To the outside world, his drawings might just seem like scribbles. But they aren’t just squiggles—they’re a map to the inside of his mind and his world. And just like his art, Vinnie Hager’s mind is complex, abstract, and innovative.
His first NFT project, “Letters by Vinnie Hager,” launched just over a month ago and the project sits around a 1.5 ETH floor at the time of publishing. “Letters” was even on display in Times Square for NFT NYC.
Vinnie’s collection, made of 1000 hand drawn 1/1 pieces, features different colors and shape variations and are named after specific moments or things in his life.
“Some are inside jokes,” Hager said. “Or things I just want to capture as a moment in time and remember.” For instance, “2006 Rav 4,” was named after his friend's car.
Many have called Hager the “next Keith Haring” due to similarities in both artists’ abstract style and playful design. But, let it be known that he is not the “next” anything. He is the first Vinnie Hager.
Fans on Twitter seem to resonate deeply with his project. Many members of the NFT community have started to use “Letters” as a background for their existing profile pictures. For example, as a companion to a Bored Ape, Doodle, Cool Cat, or any other NFT.