Raf Grassetti is a digital and traditional artist known for his work in the videogame, film, and NFT space. He was previously the Studio Art Director of Sony's Santa Monica Studio and previously worked as the Principal Artist on the God of War franchise. He's also done digital sculpting for Star Wars, Marvel, Transformers, and G.I. Joe with Hasbro. ^[1] Grassetti NFT artworks include digital sculptures like Lady Justice which was auctioned off at Christie's and collections including The Muhammad Ali Collection and the Crypto History Collection. ^[2]

Early Life

Rafael Grassetti, commonly known as Raf Grassetti was born in Brazil in 1988.  In an interview with The Crypto Times, when asked what his career goal was as a child, he said:

"I don’t remember wanting to do anything other than working with something related to art. I first got introduced to flash animation and building websites, which then led me to start using 3D to create things for websites. This then slowly transformed me into creating more complex things in 3D, exploring animation, visual effects, and even a time came when I was not able to leave the computer anymore."

Growing up he was always fascinated by art and had amazing support from family that helped him to cultivate what he is today. ^[3] He graduated from the Universidade Mackenzie in São Paulo with a degree in Design. He began his career as a designer and illustrator, working on various projects in advertising and publishing.^[9]

He also added:

"It was really tough in the 90s due to lower accessibility, especially for someone coming from outside the US." ^[4]

Career

Grassetti started working for advertising companies when he was 17 years old, in 2006 he worked as a lead modeler for more than 20 films including advertising and cinema work at PixPost Animation Studio for about a year. He also worked as a lead artist for Tribbo Post for more than a year. Grassetti worked as a Senior Character Artist for BioWare from August 2011 – September 2012 working on video games like Mass Effect 3, Mass Effect 3: Leviathan, Mass Effect 3 - Omega, and Dragon Age.^[5]

In September 2012, he became the Lead Character Artist for Playstation, working on video games like Killzone Shadow Fall, Infamous Second Son, and The Order: 1886.^[6] He has also worked as a freelancer digital sculptor for Star Wars, Marvel Series, Transformers, and G.I. Joe with Hasbro. ^[7] He later became the Principal Artist at Santa Monica's Sony Studio for the first God of War videogame which launched in 2018 and later became one of Sony's largest gaming franchises selling over 32 million copies. He was then promoted to Art Director and worked on a sequel called God of War Ragnarok which launched in 2022. In November of 2022, he was promoted to Studio Art Director of Sony's Santa Monica Studio. During this time, he also worked on his personal art book, exhibition/gallery work, and crypto art. ^[17]

In May 2023, Grassetti left Sony Santa Monica Studio after 10 years. He shared the news on his Twitter:

“Today is my last day at Sony after over a decade of being a part of this incredible journey. It’s bittersweet, but above all, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the countless opportunities I’ve been fortunate to have. Sony has been my second home, and I’m immensely grateful to be involved so deeply with God of War. The skills I’ve learned, and the deep connections I’ve formed with incredible people will stay with me forever.
”^[18]

NFTs

Raf got into crypto a few years before getting into NFTs and was inspired to join the NFT space once he got a better understanding of the technology. The first NFT, Raf bought was a Beeple bust. He had followed Beeple's digital artwork and journey into the NFT space which inspired him to try creating NFT artwork. ^[4]

He was asked in an interview with The Crypto Times what brought him into NFTs, and he responded:

"I had some crypto from a couple of years back as an investment. But when I understood Ethereum and Smart Contracts everything clicked and I saw the potential of the blockchain and NFTs and that’s when all my perceptions changed."

The idea behind his NFTs aret to communicate with the audience through his art. He says his art allow a deeper connection with the people who appreciate the craft. The most expensive NFT ever sold by Grassetti is “[ ] All That Remains” sold on September 2, 2021, for 51 ETH, approximately USD $200,000 at the time of auction. ^[3]

Collections by Raf Grassetti

The Crypto History Collection

This collection is Raf’s first set of NFT artworks. It consists of 8 digital sculptures of famous personalities, including Beeple, Elon Musk, Vitalik Buterin, Satoshi Nakamoto, Fewocious, Mark Cuban, Charles Hoskinson, and Snoop Dogg.^[20]

The Ali Collection

In May 2021, Grassetti dropped the Muhammad Ali collection on Ethernity Chain. He stated:

“Ali inspired me in my personal and professional life as he did to most of us. It’s an honor and privilege to use my craft and work with new technologies to celebrate his life and create this collection to help us remember the greatest of all time.”

This collection has 4 major parts - Float, Sting, G.O.A.T, and Wings. The first, an open edition, depicts boxing shoes of the likes that Ali wore ($499). The second, a limited edition of 500, features a dangling pair of boxing gloves with Muhammad Ali’s signature ($1,000). The third, a limited edition of 100, portrays Ali at different stages of his life ($5,000). The last is an edition of 1 inspired by Ali’s famous quote “The man who has no imagination has no wings”. Additionally, one of the NFTs comes with a physical pair of boxing gloves signed by Muhammad Ali and an Infinite Objects frame. ^[10]

Lady Justice at Christie's

Lady Justice was Grassetti's first piece auctioned at Christie’s. The NFT was sold for USD $137,500 on June 3, 2021. Raf stated the following about this artwork:

“Through the power of digital tools, I’ve carried the legacy of timeless classical sculpture into the 21st century: I aim to connect our past to its relationship with our ever-changing present. This work, to me, represents a period of deep reflection. Using figures that most of us can relate to, I present ideas of decentralization, what it means, and how the disruptive forces can impact our future.”^[11]

Idols

In June 2022, Grassetti partnered with Monstercat, a prominent music label in the NFT space to unveil a second series of collectible digital artworks called "Idols" on the Relics.xyz platform. Owners of these NFTs gain access to exclusive content, including VIP experiences, virtual events, and behind-the-scenes access to Monstercat artists. The Monstercat x Raf Grassetti IDOL was offered as an open edition on Nifty Gateway for $499 to a select group of collectors, including holders of Raf Grassetti’s Nifty Gateway artwork and current RELICS and GENESIS IDOL collectors. Those who purchased the Monstercat x Raf Grassetti IDOL were able to claim a free RELIC from the forthcoming collection of music NFTs, “RELICSxyz x Monstercat Season 2”.^[19]

Niftygateway Drops

Generations

Generations were released on June 1st, 2021, and the collection consisted of 4 animated pieces - Heart, Body, Mind, and Soul. Each NFT in the collection is the edition of 30. Grassetti described the project in the following way:

“The purpose of this collection is to put into perspective the positive and negative perceptions of the technology impact and present a different way of looking at the Body, Mind, Heart, and Soul concept and what we have to preserve as we help future generations to be happy with who they are and live a fruitful life.” ^[21]

Fragments

‘Fragments’ is a series of digital sculptures by Raf Grassetti that explores the perception and expression of human faces and bodies. The series aimed to challenge the viewer’s interpretation of the emotions and identities conveyed by the facial and bodily features of the sculptures. There was a total of 7 NFT pieces in fragments namely Broken, Time, Pressure, Individuality, Spectrum, Future, and Flow. The Flow was a rare edition with an average bid of $30,000, while Future was gifted to the collectors of the Generations drop. The rest were limited editions of 30 pieces given by a lucky draw system.^[22]