Background & Biography
Simon Denny is a Berlin-based artist and Professor of Time-based Media at HFBK Hamburg. His practice examines the technology industry through installations, sculpture, painting, print, video and web-based work. Blockchain systems, cryptocurrencies and NFTs are recurring subjects, not simply tools used to sell otherwise unrelated images.
Born in Auckland, Denny studied at the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland and at the Städelschule in Frankfurt. He represented New Zealand at the Venice Biennale in 2015. In 2016, he co-founded the Berlin Program for Artists with Willem de Rooij and Angela Bulloch, creating a mentoring initiative alongside his exhibition practice.
Notable Contributions
Blockchain Future States, a 2016 project, examined how blockchain organisations describe themselves and the futures they propose. The Ethereum installation, made with Linda Kantchev, used the visual language of a trade-fair booth and a fictional postage stamp. The Ljubljana Biennial subsequently exhibited that work, connecting private digital monetary systems with familiar public symbols of territory and authority.
Denny’s Backdated NFT/Ethereum Stamp joined a tokenised work to physical stamps. Sotheby’s listed it in its 2021 Natively Digital auction as an ERC-721 token, with a mint date of 2 November 2018 and an accompanying physical component. The catalogue dates the work across 2016, 2018 and 2021. These dates describe different stages of the work rather than establishing a claim that it was the first NFT or the first blockchain artwork.
Dotcom Séance, developed with Cosmographia and Guile Twardowski, revisited companies from the early internet economy through redesigned identities and NFTs. Kunsthalle Zürich’s DYOR presentation included printed canvases and a relief incorporating the Ethereum Yellow Paper. The work linked the commercial promises of an earlier technology cycle to the language and mechanisms of Web3.
Denny has also helped bring blockchain-related practice into institutional exhibitions. Proof of Work took place at Berlin’s Schinkel Pavillon in 2018. In 2021, he co-curated Proof of Stake – Technological Claims with Bettina Steinbrügge at the Kunstverein in Hamburg. The latter combined a group exhibition with a symposium, educational activity and publication, examining technology, organisation and ownership rather than serving as a showcase for a single protocol.
Why Katharos.ai Follows Simon Denny
Katharos.ai follows Denny for his sustained work on the cultural and political meanings of blockchain. His installations and collaborations offer ways to examine the stories that technology organisations tell about ownership, coordination and the future. Those stories can influence how audiences understand a system before they encounter its technical details.
His relevance extends beyond participation in NFT markets. Curatorial projects and public conversations place artists, researchers and technical communities in dialogue about the institutions surrounding digital assets. The New Institute’s Seed Phrase podcast features Denny in conversations about art, technology and Web3. Its current profile identifies him as an alumnus, so this entry does not present him as a current fellow there.
Current Practice & Education
HFBK’s current staff page confirms Denny’s professorship and Berlin base, alongside 2026 exhibitions including Rules Based Order in Munich and Strange Rules: Protocol Art in Venice. His teaching and broader artistic practice extend beyond cryptocurrency. Academic appointments and exhibition participation do not imply institutional endorsement of any token or financial product.
Areas to Follow
- Artistic interpretations of blockchain ownership and governance. - Relationships between tokens, physical objects and exhibition formats. - Technology branding and narratives about economic change. - Collaboration between artists, educators and technical communities. - Rights, access and preservation in digital collecting.
Reporting Scope
This profile distinguishes artworks and critical inquiry from technical protocol development. It does not describe Denny as an Ethereum founder, a blockchain engineer or a financial adviser. Collaborators receive attribution, and historical projects are dated. No claim is made about current token prices, returns or the investment merits of his work.
Inclusion is editorial and does not imply endorsement, partnership or an advisory relationship with Denny, HFBK or any institution mentioned.
Areas of Influence Category
Community, Media & Education is the primary category, reflecting Denny’s artistic, curatorial and teaching work. This profile remains unranked.
Current Position
Artist; Professor of Time-based Media, HFBK Hamburg; Co-Founder, Berlin Program for Artists.
Photo Credit
Mariapaulafn, “Simon Denny Berlin 2023”, 28 June 2023, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0; cropped and resized. Historical event photograph. The original photograph and public-domain dedication are linked in Sources 9–10. This 2023 photograph is not a recent headshot.
Source notice: Information and images are attributed to the external sources listed. Katharos.ai does not endorse the subjects or claims described and does not independently certify the authenticity of every source statement or image.