What I Like About You: Artists to Follow on Instagram

Every social network finds its (temporary) niche. Facebook is an information hub and water cooler, salon and reunion; Twitter more suited to bullhorns and banter; Tumblr a multi-media feed of news, curiosities, and cuteness. Instagram is just photos, quick and easy. Reblogging is impossible, captions are minimal, and so are comments. It’s all about the image. And (unless accounts are private) anyone can follow along.

That’s why it’s so alluring a format for artists to share their output, their esthetic, and their obsessions. Familiar names in the Instagram directory include Wangechi Mutu, Takashi Murakami, Ai Weiwei, KAWS, Ryan Trecartin, Erik Parker, Brooke Dunn Parker, Dzine, Renee Cox, Friends with You, Shepard Fairey, Sofia Maldonado, Zoe Strauss, JR, Os Gêmeos, and Sanford Biggers. Some of these artists’ feeds are more casual, some more curated, some more personal, some more promotional. Most are a mix of everything. Check out the ones that stand out in my roundup over at artnews.

Screenshot of artist Toyin Odutola’s Instagram feed. COURTESY OF THE ARTIST.