DeviantArt Founder Unveils $22,000 Digital Art Display

Angelo Sotira, who launched the online digital art community DeviantArt as a teenager, built a vibrant hub for millions of artists in the 2000s. Now, 25 years later, he aims to transform digital art again, this time by redefining how it’s showcased.

On Thursday, Sotira introduced Layer, a premium screen crafted to display digital art in unparalleled quality.

“The canvas must function and integrate into your life differently than standard displays,” Sotira told TechCrunch. “It’s designed to enhance elegant spaces.”

Comparable to Samsung’s The Frame TV, which mimics a painting when idle, Layer elevates the concept to a luxury level. Unlike The Frame, Layer isn’t a mass-market product and doesn’t aim to replicate static artwork.

“Priced at $22,000, it’s clear who this is for,” Sotira said. “We made no compromises, creating what we believe is the ultimate way to present digital art on a wall.”

Sotira’s vision of digital art excludes digital photography or videos.

Layer collaborates with artists like Casey Reas, who creates generative AI art—not the kind produced by large language models like ChatGPT, which often use others’ work without permission. These artists code their own software, crafting dynamic AI-driven pieces that evolve based on programmed instructions.

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These artworks, like most AI-driven creations, demand significant computing power. This partly explains Layer’s high cost—it requires advanced technology to render such innovative pieces.

“You’re witnessing over 35 years of pioneering artists shaping code-based art. The pixels on the screen are directly controlled by live code running on the GPU, rendered in full resolution without compression,” Sotira explained.

Having evaluated similar products while at DeviantArt, Sotira understands their shortcomings.

“A key principle is simplicity: plug it in, turn it on, and it curates art for you,” he said.

From experience, he knows the novelty of tinkering with displays fades quickly, so he designed Layer to be low-maintenance and self-sustaining.

“It’s built to grace your wall for years, seamlessly fitting into your life.”

Though Layer is a costly, niche product, it has attracted support. In stealth mode, the startup secured $5.7 million from Expa Ventures, Human Ventures, Slauson & Co., and angel investors like Twitter co-founder Evan Williams and Behance co-founder Scott Belsky.

Layer’s vision goes beyond hardware. Owners gain subscription access to a curated collection of digital art, with artists earning royalties based on display time.

“Our core mission is to prioritize artists,” Sotira said.