10 Instagram Accounts I am Obsessing Over
I am chronically addicted to Instagram. Honestly, it is embarrassing how much time I spend on this app. Pretty much any other social media platform disgusts me. I’m not just endlessly scrolling, comparing myself to people I went to high school with (even though, yes, I am doing that too). I justify my absurd amount of screen time by following super-cool-totally-niche art accounts. As an artsy person who rarely values anything more than a good aesthetic, it is my duty to no longer gatekeep them. Here are ten accounts that make the app worth it for me.
1. Sho Shibuya | @shoshibuya
With every news cycle, Shibuya paints on top of the front page of The New York Times, illustrating the story, then posts the actual headline on the next slide. His work is simple but oh-so effective, using color and shape masterfully. I often feel desensitized by the news, but Shibuya manages to make me feel inescapably tethered to what’s happening miles away from me.
2. Accidentally Wes Anderson | @accidentallywesanderson
This account is probably the most aesthetically pleasing thing you will see on Instagram. AWA posts photographs of whimsically cute, symmetrical buildings that seem shot from director Wes Anderson’s famously stylized films. Yet despite each one of these locations looking so charming it must be fake, they’re all real (including this post office in Wrangell, Alaska).
3. Labyrinth of Collages | @labyrinthofcollages
Though Instagram is made for photography, I think digital mediums—like collage—are vastly underrated. This account’s muses are primarily comprised of editorials and red-carpet shots of the trendiest celebrities, transforming them into dazzling, hypnotic mosaics. I’m sure you will find at least one of your celebrity crushes here.
4. Isabelle Chaput and Nelson Tiberghien | @young_emperors
Young Emperors are the best couple on Instagram. This French couple dresses in coordinating couture every day and shows it off with various bizarre videos and statuesque poses. They are incredibly dramatic yet drama-free. You get the sense they go to Fashion Week, bond over watching other people be petty, and then just go home to relax. I aspire to have a relationship this fun one day.
5. Celebs on Sandwiches | @celebsonsandwiches
The concept is simple. They’re just watercolors of different celebrities on different types of sandwiches. It really does not need a lot of explanation. Here’s Betty White on peanut butter, bologna, and iceberg lettuce on white bread, a snack her mother used to make for her when she was a kid.
6. Texts From Your Existentialist | @textsfromyourexistentalist
This account really appeals to me because I am (a.) a lover of art history and (b.) extremely moody. If you listen to Phoebe Bridgers or make self-deprecating jokes about your mental health, this artist is for you. This account layers melancholic, darkly humorous texts on top of famous works of art. It’s the kind of art where you chuckle because you relate, but then you kind of realize that might be a bad thing.
7. Donni Davy | @donni.davy
Yes, this is the lead makeup artist for Euphoria. Even if you’re like me and don’t have an HBOmax password, it is enthralling to see all the different things it takes to make attractive twenty-somethings look cool on TV. I like Davy’s account because she really shows you all the aspects of her process in visual storytelling, posting everything from initial sketches, screen tests, or even close-ups of makeup that didn’t get focused on in an episode. I followed this account so closely last year that I bought rhinestones and recreated this look for the spring Bell Tower Ball.
8. DALL·E by OpenAI | @openaidalle
This is technically a digital art account, but it features every style possible. Basically, different users get access to AI tech to create art from prompts that are DM’d to the account. This piece’s prompt was “a knight guarding his castle in the style of cubism.” I have a friend who loves using it, and once DALL·E’s waitlist goes up again, I want to apply for access.
9. Avant Arte | @avant.arte
Like the previous account mentioned, this page isn’t just one artist’s work. Avant Arte is made to highlight upcoming artists for collectors to invest in, but I recommend it to anyone interested in art. It has many interviews, mini-history tidbits, and, most importantly, the coolest artists you’ve never heard of. For instance, I had never thought of a sunburn as artistic until Thomas Mailaender’s “sunburned” images used a UV lamp to create Illustrated People.
10. Avi Steinberg | @steinbergdrawscartoons
Steinberg has become my favorite cartoonist on Instagram. He illustrates the most relatable content, especially about anxiety. As you can guess by the whole premise of this article, I deeply understand how this moon feels.
