Close your eyes and imagine an artist. What do you see? A tweed beret, a painting brush, a scarf, a Yann Tiersen song playing in the background? It’s incredible how much we get caught up in cliches and stereotypes.
In reality, artists come in all forms, backgrounds, cultures, styles, and whatnot, and you don’t need to carry around a portfolio that weighs half a ton to prove it.
Just take a look at the #Art vs. Artist hashtag challenge that has been surfing around on Twitter lately. Artists are sharing their portraits and artworks side by side to show how their creations reflect (or not!) on their appearance. View it as an experiment whether art does show on a face, but remember that you’re the one to decide, 'cause there’s simply no straightforward answer.
This post may include affiliate links.
Bored Panda reached out to Mxrixha, the painter behind the viral #artvsartist post which amassed 1.1 million likes and 166.9k retweets. The artist who goes by the Twitter handle @muslimahpaintsx told us that after her account was recently suspended, she lost out on all her audience and assumed business had gone down.
“I then made a new one and put my tweet of art vs. artist up again, and it drastically hit hundreds and thousands,” she said. Fortunately, her new account brought in a bigger audience and more customers than last time. Mxrixha said: “I was so overwhelmed by the support and positive words.”
The painter said that her inspiration is based purely on the meanings of the Quran and herself as a Muslim. “A lot of my inspiration is taken from the trials and tribulations of this world and the goodness and rewards that come to you in the end,” she said.
When asked if she believes in the link between the artist’s appearance and their artwork, Mxrixha commented that “there’s no particular link with my appearance and work other than they’re both Islamic.” She added: “I wear this jilbaab/hijab as it’s been ordained upon me and the paintings I do are specifically only buildings and/or nature.”
Moreover, she doesn’t paint any type of humans and/or animals “as it’s not permissible, I wouldn’t compromise my beliefs for anything.”
Like many viral things on the internet, the #Art vs. Artist hashtag challenge started as a meme. It was a test to see if artwork reflects the identity of its creator, as many assume. Artists would post the hashtag along with a selfie surrounded by eight of their selected art pieces.
The hashtag quickly blew up all over the internet, and artists from various genres joined in for the challenge. Soon, it outgrew its initial memesy-ness and became a fun way for creators to represent themselves on social media.
In reality, #Art vs. Artist allows the creator to present their best work for enormous crowds of people on Twitter that wouldn't be possible in the real world.
Where’d you get them? I want one. My parents have similar ones in their home but they got them oversees.
Load More Replies...
Beautiful <3 just have to make sure that you guys treat them carefully as these are normally verses from the Quran.
Yes! This one means "iqra" "read!" and is the 96 verse of the quran, first one revealed. It welcomed me, read! is not a bad word, and an open book is not, i really like it and value it, i love it, if my house burn i will try to save it before my phone. 20201004_1...ec3c46.jpg 
hey . im a Muslim myself . i really couldn't agree with Maryam Siddiqui . I don't think its wrong if a Non Muslim wanna have Quran Frame inside their home . If their intentions is good , i don't think i personally have a problem with that . In fact i was proud if a Non - Muslims put this beautiful wording in our Quran verses in their home . May their home fill with love and peace always . Maryam . You should have known better if you really a Muslim . Don't be too aggressive towards this non existing issue your created . You just makes people hate Muslims more if you behave like this . This not our Prophet Muhammad S.A.W wanna us be like in this modern days .
May their home fill with love and peace always is the sentence right.
Load More Replies...
Not all women who wear hijabs are oppressed, I do not deny that in some places women are forced to, but there are women who actually like wearing it ,so stop the hate!
Forgive my ignorance. Is it all just design, or is there writing too? Either way, they are beautiful!
They are both. That's why they are amazing.
Load More Replies... 
I think you'll find that Christianity and Catholicism has done more damage than Islam ever will. If we discount the evil "missionaries", the people who use their religion as an excuse to perpetuate hate and every single other awful this people have done in the name of a god; then there's still thousands of people who have been traumatized by their Christian upbringing and will never receive help for it. (my own mother was literally KIDNAPPED by her grandma to go get baptized) Most muslims are happy with their religion, and they don't need cheap fakers like you to bring them down. :)
Load More Replies...What if it’s a modern take on a mini portfolio? In times when self-promoting is a quintessential part of a successful career, showing a selection of your best work can be game-changing. One hashtag can help artists to build their following fast and boost their brand name with minimal resources.
Before social media, curating a solo exhibition, inviting buyers, and making connections with curators was a hell of task every up-and-coming artist had to do. Today, it’s no longer the case.
I like the strong, bold colours. It is a very expressive portrait.
That painting looks JUST like my good friend! I'll have to show it to her.
Can't we see more of those pictures? They're so good! <3
Another shining example of an artist brave enough to carve out their own niche by producing works with their own distinctive style.
Omg , they're all awesome ... but I love the random cute cartoon on the bottom right !
Proper artistic credit should go to the programmer of the filter algorithm used on the photo on the right.
Note: this post originally had 97 images. It’s been shortened to the top 45 images based on user votes.
Time and again I am amazed by the artistic abilities of people... I like the personality that shines through much of the work. I wish all these artists a successful career- may they be paid to pursue their passions.
Not all women who wear hijabs are oppressed, I do not deny that in some places women are forced to, but there are women who actually like wearing it ,so stop the hate!
i literally suck at art, but i want to like it and do more. seeing other people be great artists makes me lose my self esteem but also i feel like i need to improve a LOT to get to their level. no hate to them though
I always wondered how people could tell that someones going and downvoting all the posts. Now I see. Stop it kindly, you f****r
they all are very talented in their unique way to express their self through their art
I would love to show my art vs. artist of myself, but I have no idea how to put a photo on here. Can someone please tell me how to do that?
When you write a comment there is a grey apn near the orange "send" button, click on it and send your art please. Reply to me as a test if you want.
Load More Replies...
Nobody told you to look in a mirror. To be depressed and looking down at everybody don't make you an artist, it makes you an asshole. It is really interesting to compare how people look and what they are creating, you can see how they look outside and how they look inside, and if you are an artist you know that your art reflect how you look/feel inside, right? This is one of the dumbest comment i ever read: "i am a babysitter and i hate children", "i am a farmer and i hate soil", "i'm an artist and i don't understand that art is related to the person who make it, that's dumb", yes, that's dumb.
Load More Replies...
Time and again I am amazed by the artistic abilities of people... I like the personality that shines through much of the work. I wish all these artists a successful career- may they be paid to pursue their passions.
Not all women who wear hijabs are oppressed, I do not deny that in some places women are forced to, but there are women who actually like wearing it ,so stop the hate!
i literally suck at art, but i want to like it and do more. seeing other people be great artists makes me lose my self esteem but also i feel like i need to improve a LOT to get to their level. no hate to them though
I always wondered how people could tell that someones going and downvoting all the posts. Now I see. Stop it kindly, you f****r
they all are very talented in their unique way to express their self through their art
I would love to show my art vs. artist of myself, but I have no idea how to put a photo on here. Can someone please tell me how to do that?
When you write a comment there is a grey apn near the orange "send" button, click on it and send your art please. Reply to me as a test if you want.
Load More Replies... Nobody told you to look in a mirror. To be depressed and looking down at everybody don't make you an artist, it makes you an asshole. It is really interesting to compare how people look and what they are creating, you can see how they look outside and how they look inside, and if you are an artist you know that your art reflect how you look/feel inside, right? This is one of the dumbest comment i ever read: "i am a babysitter and i hate children", "i am a farmer and i hate soil", "i'm an artist and i don't understand that art is related to the person who make it, that's dumb", yes, that's dumb.
Load More Replies... 