Heart You is an anonymous artist, originally an oil painter, who became known for NFT art built around a single recurring character: a heart-shaped figure with X's for eyes. Working first on Tezos before expanding to Ethereum, the artist has described the practice as “a project to spread love”. A recurring theme is self-understanding and acceptance of one's whole self, including what the artist calls the “shadow self”.
Kevin Rose, co-founder of the PROOF Collective, was an early collector of Heart You's work, which led to two collaborative collections. Emotes, a Genesis PFP collection released for PROOF Collective and existing collectors, added 1,433 pieces to the Heart You universe and exceeded 1,350 ETH in trading volume. Monochrome, made in collaboration with Moonbirds, followed as a set of 179 individual 1:1 works. On SuperRare, the artist released 15 individual pieces, including Bear Hug, which contained a hidden clue for the NFT treasure hunt Phrazeboard, and How I Killed My Father.
