Holders of Light Years NFT(s) can now claim the associated print(s) from Fellowship: Claim form

Light Years by Dmitri Cherniak consists of 100 unique NFT artworks, each complemented by a physical silver gelatin print.

Dmitri Cherniak at Hanks Photographic Services, Mount Vernon, NY, 2022 (Credit: Adam Powell)
Dmitri Cherniak, Light Years #001, 2022

Light Years by Dmitri Cherniak consists of 100 unique NFT artworks, each complemented by a physical silver gelatin print.

The artworks were developed iteratively as the artist Dmitri Cherniak traveled around the globe researching Moholy-Nagy with the support of his estate. Each edition was created by a code-based generative system, then hand-prepared, printed to a film negative that was used to develop the image as a silver gelatin print.

Dmitri Cherniak reviewing test prints, at Hank’s Photographic Services, Mount Vernon, NY, 2022 (Credit: Adam Powell)
Dmitri Cherniak reviewing test prints, at Hank’s Photographic Services, Mount Vernon, NY, 2022 (Credit: Adam Powell)

In Conversation

Darius Himes, International Head of Photographs at Christie’s, discusses the creation of Light Years with Dmitri Cherniak and Daniel Hug, from the Estate of László Moholy-Nagy.

Dmitri Cherniak

Dmitri Cherniak is a Canadian artist and coder based in New York City. His algorithmic art has been exhibited in museums, galleries and exhibitions around the world. Above all else, Dmitri considers automation as his primary artistic medium. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Computer Science from McGill University in Montreal, and started using social media to share his ongoing projects in 2019.

László Moholy-Nagy

László Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian modernist artist who embraced new technologies and modern materials in his work. Throughout his life, he championed the integration of art and design with science and technology, experimenting with light in photography, painting, geometric forms, spray paint, photomontage, typography and more. Moholy-Nagy was interested in exploring industrial tools and materials to replace the ‘touch’ of the artist with mechanical processes. He believed that art should adapt to the times, reach wide audiences, and reflect constantly changing technology. Moholy-Nagy was one of the founding teachers at the Bauhaus School of Art and Design in Weimar and Dessau in the 1920s. The rise of Nazism forced Moholy-Nagy to leave Germany. He eventually moved to the U.S., where he founded The School of Design in Chicago in 1939 in the Bauhaus model. His artwork, philosophy and teachings have continued to inspire generations of artists.