Alexander S. C. Rower, the grandson of artist Alexander Calder and president of the Calder Foundation, is a self-proclaimed NFT skeptic. He had fielded numerous pitches about the possibility of an Alexander Calder NFT by the time he spoke with TRLab founders Xin Li-Cohen and Audrey Ou at Art Basel Miami Beach last December. That’s when something finally clicked.

Traditional artists such as U.S.-based Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang, who didn't have prior experience with digital art or blockchain technology, are drawn to TRLab because of this approach, and the fact the platform works with artists to realize their ideas. In July, Cai's Transient Eternity—101 Ignitions of Gunpowder Paintings, fetched US$2.5 million through a TRLab auction.

TRLab, a platform for collecting art in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), raised $4.2 million in a funding round to diversify its collection. Co-founder Xin Li-Cohen, also the non-executive deputy chairman at Christie's, shares insights into the raise, Christie's role as TRLab's marketing partner, and NFT trends to watch in 2022.

Amid the explosion of NFT initiatives of the last year looking to cash in on the crypto-art craze, how do you stand out? The six-month-old TR Lab (for the Latin term “tabula rasa” or blank slate) thinks it has the answer, with a considered mix of newbie artists and seasoned art-world stars, a focus on measures to build real community—and, above all, a powerhouse leadership team.