40 Hilariously Relatable Art Memes, As Seen On This Online Group

To learn more about art, memes, and their impact, we contacted art historians Melanie V. Taylor and Dr. Ben Street.

Taylor specializes in 16th-century symbolism in European illuminated manuscripts and paintings and believes that memes can have a positive impact on the art world by, for example, sparking deeper conversations about it, but to do so, they need to avoid oversimplifying the subject.

"Where art is concerned, they can [...] poke fun at some aspects that the general public has difficulty understanding, such as performance art. Many do not understand that, and find it weird," she told Bored Panda.

"A meme may spark some interest, inspiring an individual to look deeper into the subject, and then they will find that the cave paintings and various sculptures from as long ago as 40,000 years ago could equally be mistaken for having been created within the last 70 years of post-WW2 expressionist movements," Taylor added.

Dr. Ben Street, who is an author, lecturer, and educator based in London, United Kingdom, agrees.

"I think memes can definitely have a positive impact on the art world," he told Bored Panda. However, he believes they shouldn't tackle questions surrounding the meaning of art. "No one's going to agree on that and it's not urgent. Instead, they should focus on wider problems in the art industry. There are so many. Memes can draw attention to them."

One of such issues discussed on r/artmemes is the rise of AI in the creative industries. Many community members are concerned that the technologies can overshadow traditional artistry, and create posts about its authenticity, ownership, and the future of human creativity.

Their worries are understandable. After all, Los Angeles is even set to introduce the world's first AI art museum. Dubbed Dataland, it is expected to open its doors in 2025, in a new development next to the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Broad Museum, and the home of the LA Philharmonic, penetrating the space of the city's most prestigious cultural venues.

So r/artmemes does offer a medium for relevant conversations.

Street, the author of How to Enjoy Art: A Guide for Everyone, acknowledges that memes can be a form of art in and of themselves, but questions the necessity of categorizing them as such.

Indeed, according to researchers looking at modern forms of communication, they are a language in themselves, with a capacity to transcend cultures and construct collective identities between people.

As Paolo Gerbaudo, a reader in digital politics and director of the Centre for Digital Culture at Kings College London told the BBC, these pictures "are one of the clearest manifestations of the fact there is such a thing as digital culture."

Memes are said to tap into collective online consciousness and have been referred to as digital folklore – or "Netlore."

As John Fisher highlighted, comparisons such as Hamlet versus South Park or Beethoven's Fifth Symphony versus Justin Bieber's "Eenie Meanie" can provoke thoughts about distinctions between "high" and "low" art. And so can memes.

But this line of thinking, according to Melanie Taylor, is a very personal one.

"Since the advent of photography (an art form in its own right from its beginning in 1839 on both sides of the English Channel) and the spin-offs such as cinema, newsreels, [and] docudramas (so many!), art is no longer a representation of a recognizable individual, place or time in history," she explained.

The context becomes intertwined, and "memes pointing to the content of paintings such as 'The Wreck of the Medusa' (1818-19) by Theodore Gericault would inspire some to look deeper into this history painting."

"The Medusa was a French naval frigate wrecked off the coast of Mauritania. 147 made a raft and in the next 13 days before they were rescued, 15 died and the survivors ate them to survive," Taylor continued.

"The painting was displayed in the Paris Salon of 1819 to wide acclaim as the wreck had caused a scandal in the French newspapers. Since the papers were the social media of their day, people flocked to see Gericault's painting and it made his name."

Every format serves its own purpose, and as Taylor beautifully illustrated, saying that one is "lower" and therefore less important than the other can be simply unfair.

"When it comes to 'low' art, using Gericault's painting as an example, I put myself in his place as an emerging artist of the early 19th century," Taylor said. "In 1819, the painting was a representation of an event brought about by the incompetence of the captain of the ship, so [it] could better be described as a visual journalistic piece rather than the more academic history narrative that it now enjoys."

"This poses a further question: when does some 'low' art become 'high' art? The jury will always be out, especially with the more modern pieces, such as those by the American abstract expressionists [... like] Jack the Dripper — better known as Jackson Pollock — or even Picasso, [...] the Young British artists, such as Tracy Emin, Damien Hurst, and others [... as well as] those hopefuls emerging from the myriad number of art schools across the world; all have their place, and all have to start somewhere."

So do memes!