Five Instagram Accounts Making Art Memes
A guide to five Instagram accounts that use memes to satirize the art world. The accounts include The Art Gorgeous (founded by Cordelia Noe in June 2015), Jerry Gogosian (run by Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, a 26-year-old curator and gallerist from Los Angeles, started September 2018), Freeze Magazine (started September 2019, parodying the British art magazine Frieze), Classical Art Memes (started on Facebook in August 2014, now nearing one million followers on Instagram), and God of Art Memes (a sister account to Classical Art Memes with 265,000 followers and 5 million likes in 2020). These accounts critique art market hierarchies, sexism, and elitism, or use classical artworks to comment on contemporary issues like the pandemic. The article references Valentina Tanni's 2020 book 'Memestetica' (published by Nero) on meme virality.
Key facts
- The Art Gorgeous was founded by Cordelia Noe in June 2015.
- Jerry Gogosian is run by Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, a 26-year-old curator and gallerist from Los Angeles.
- Jerry Gogosian started in September 2018 and reached 84,500 followers within two years.
- Freeze Magazine started in September 2019 and has over 37,000 followers.
- Classical Art Memes started on Facebook in August 2014 and is nearing one million followers on Instagram.
- God of Art Memes had 265,000 followers and 5 million likes in 2020.
- Valentina Tanni's book 'Memestetica' was published by Nero in 2020.
- The article was written by Sara Ausilio, Bonnie Borsari, Costanza Fusi, Fabio Ippolito, and Marina Pappalardo.
Entities
Artists
- Cordelia Noe
- Hilde Lynn Helphenstein
- Petra Cortright
- Michael XuFu Huang
- Zoe Buckman
- Cao Fei
- Michaela dePury
- Michelangelo
- Botticelli
- Caravaggio
- Van Gogh
Institutions
- The Art Gorgeous
- Jerry Gogosian
- Freeze Magazine
- Classical Art Memes
- God of Art Memes
- Nero
- IULM University of Milan
- Artribune
Locations
- Los Angeles
- United States
- Italy
- Milan