In 1838, photography was a crazy new fad, and images of rare paintings were soon widely distributed for people all over the world to see. Sound familiar? Today, images have similarly spread across the Internet.
This concept of democratizing art, once put forth by theorist Walter Benjamin, is the inspiration behind artist Lauren Kaelin's paintings — well that, and the Ikea monkey meme.
Called "Benjameme," Kaelin's series of paintings each feature a different meme or viral star.
"When I first saw the Ikea Monkey, I knew I had to paint him. He's my favorite thing that's ever happened on the internet — the jacket, the elevator, just how small he is! Prancercising might be a close second," she told Mashable.
To Kaelin, her paintings are like the reverse of Benjamin's theory: Instead of democratizing art, she says she is taking a widespread, mainstream image and "creating an aura or an original where none previously existed."
"Benjamemes, aside from being a place of pure appreciation, is an opportunity to recontextualize these sensations as art objects and ultimately question why," Kaelin explained. "Why is Grumpy Cat so popular? Or auto-tuned Antoine Dodson? I don't know! But I'll paint 'em."
Check out Kaelin's works of Internet art in the gallery, above.
Images courtesy of Lauren Kaelin
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