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Technology has provided a lot of convenience for people across various industries, and the art scene has bloomed even more with the onset of non-fungible tokens. For example, Victor Langlois, a transgender artist, took full advantage of the NFT trend, generating $50 million. Even more impressive is the fact that Victor is only 19 years old.
Victor Langlois first broke out into the mainstream in July last year when he put up a mix of his physical artworks and NFTs at Christie’s auction house in New York. The “Hello, I’m Victor (FEWOCiOUS) and This is My Life” collection explored his childhood and gender transition. His works were not only praised but sold for a staggering $2.16 million. From there, Victor continued his momentum.
The artist more than doubled his tally with NFTs, selling nearly $20 million worth of digital art in 24 hours over two months ago. It was reported that Victor’s sale was the third-largest in history for NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway.
Victor, also known as FEWOCiOUS, spoke with Fortune to describe the challenges he faced growing up as a transgender kid.
“It’s been hard for me to process, to be honest,” revealed the artist. Initially, Victor lived in an abusive household, but he was taken to live with his grandparents. While a shift in scenery usually benefits people, the switch didn’t do much for him as life was no better than before.
“I thought I would be safe,” Victor explained. “But they were just as mean.”
Victor also shared that he was scared to come out to his family due to how religious they were. He also mentioned how his Latina grandmother urged him to pursue a different career instead of art.
“I think she struggled so much that she wanted security,” Victor shared. “To see me wanting to pursue art, she was like, ‘What? Be a lawyer,’ which I understand. But it hurt when she would say, ‘Your art is ugly, and that’s why you can’t do it.”
Since then, Victor Langlois has gone beyond what his family expected, proving them wrong and becoming one of the most successful teenagers in the NFT space.
