Curatorial Note by Stephen Santoro

As part of my art practice, I scan over 500 images every single day. That can

mean scrolling timelines, visiting artists’ websites, looking through museum

archives, or seeing work in person. This practice has gone on for about ten years

now. It’s how I process the world through my own eye, through my own vision, in

order to develop taste. A taste for curation. A taste that makes me a better

curator, a better collector, and sharper in how I understand art over time.

When I first saw Clown Party, it was only one or two images, more than a year

ago. But it immediately stuck with me. It felt new. Fresh. Different from ACK’s

larger body of work. Much of what I had known from him was performance-driven

and deeply tied to blockchain culture, but also multimedia, moving between

printmaking, sculptural work, and other experimental forms. Clown Party felt

separate from that. The imagery felt different. It had personality. There was

something contained within it that I wanted to understand more deeply.

That intuition pulled me further down a rabbit hole. I wanted to know why this

work felt so different and what it was really about. It stood out, and that’s what

triggered me. As our relationship became more formal and we began planning

Clown Party for Art Miami this year, I spent more time unpacking how this body of

work came together, how long it needed to sit, and what the deeper meaning

behind it really was.

Clown Party is an intimate and personal series. It speaks to memories from

decades ago in ACK’s life, a vulnerable period that ultimately became the core

subject matter for the work. On the surface, the series feels playful and fun, but

underneath that there’s a consistent dark humor and emotional weight that runs

through it. The work can be understood through multiple lenses, with almost

infinite interpretation.

Formally, these works begin as video files drawn from archival material and

repurposed through a refined printmaking and proprietary ChromaSculpt

process. The scale matters here. These pieces are massive, nearly five by five

feet, and they invite the viewer to get close. Really close. In works like Pink

Carousel and Heavy Mettle, the subject occupies only a portion of the

composition, leaving large areas of textured negative space. That space allowsyou to get lost. It slows you down and gives you time to understand and signify

what the key components are in the series.

Then there are works like SpectACKular and Showtime, which feel central to the

narrative. These pieces represent the Tin Man and the Clown, ACK and his

friend, and the moments they shared. They offer a clearer picture of that world

and those memories. They feel more personal. They allow you to step deeper

into his lived experience.

For me, Goodnight Circus is the defining work of the series. It encapsulates

everything ACK has been working toward. It’s beautiful, dark, chaotic, and

intimate all at once. It gives you insight into his feelings and thoughts. It feels

native and integral to channeling what came before this into what is presently in

front of us. I see traces of Goodnight Circus throughout his broader practice. It’s

a true standout.

The Tin Man portrait was actually my favorite piece in the series. I’ve always

been drawn to self-portraits, both within our space and across the broader art

world. I’m deeply interested in how artists choose to represent themselves. What

struck me most about this portrait is how directly ACK exposes the core imagery

pulled from old photos and videos of himself. We live in a pseudo-anonymous

world where true personal exposure is often hidden behind screens and

usernames. You usually have to pay very close attention to understand who

someone really is. In Tin Man, that veil is lifted. It’s referenced clearly in the title,

separated from the rest of the series, and stands as a direct representation of

ACK himself.

One of the most compelling aspects of this project is the relationship between the

tangible and the intangible. As you spend time with these works, you begin by

noticing depth, light, and shadow within the pigments on the canvas. But over

time, you start to realize how intentional ACK is about how viewers engage with

the work. Technology plays a role not just in refining the printmaking process, but

also in how the work exists on the blockchain. These objects can be dynamic.

Interactive. Playful. And still unquestionably fine art. They remain static artifacts

of their time, while also opening the door to interactions we haven’t fully seen yet.

I think of Ethereum and the blockchain as a medium. It introduces constraints,

but it also introduces new affordances that require time, money, and resources in

unfamiliar ways. Watching ACK dedicate his practice to this medium for the pastfour or five years has taught me a lot about how artists can build more direct,

transparent, and emotionally resonant relationships with collectors. That kind of

emotional connection is incredibly difficult to convey through technology, but

when it works, you feel it.

That’s why I’m so interested in how people experience Clown Party. These works

are more than physical objects and more than digital artifacts. It’s the relationship

between the two that opens up something harder to describe. When you

encounter the physical painting, it feels clearly distinct, even if you’re unfamiliar

with ACK’s broader practice. The same goes for the digital rooms. They have

depth and interactivity. You can move through them, click into elements, watch

videos, and see physical paintings recontextualized digitally. The rooms

themselves become dedicated to the representation of this body of work.

The painting is one standalone element, but the entire room offers a digitally

native contemporary experience. That relationship is difficult to communicate

without standing in front of the physical piece first and foremost, experiencing its

scale and texture in real time. Those qualities speak to skill, devotion, and

commitment to the practice. That human effort and research is palpable here,

and it’s something that feels increasingly rare.

This body of work feels deeply human to me. It feels like a moment where I’m

being invited closer to ACK as a person. The digital rooms are filled with intimate

detail. Light reflects off objects. Sculptural forms reference earlier works. Familiar

motifs resurface. The appropriation of his own past work within these

environments creates a sense of nostalgia and continuity. Even the music woven

into certain elements adds another layer.

Clown Party feels like a playground for discovering ACK’s world. It’s realized with

intention and grace. This presentation will engage a new audience at Art Miami

2025 with Vertu Fine Art, standing confidently alongside contemporary and pop

artists of the past while offering a perspective that is entirely its own. It belongs

here. And it stands alone, giving viewers access to a deeply personal corner of

ACK Universe.