Instagram has always been one of the best places to find new art and follow new artists. Whether stopping us in our scroll or popping up on the trusty 'Explore' page, new art is everywhere, immersing itself in our algorithms and slowly but surely building up an impressive 'Saved' collection of works.
The range of art fed to Instagram on a daily basis seems unending, and although this new way of discovering art is undoubtedly exciting, helpful and groundbreaking for the contemporary art world, it also begs the question, where to start?
We’ve put together a selection of our favourite platforms at the moment. The list, of course, could go on and on, and could be changed and added to constantly, but for now, here are our top four picks:
Mothflower
Founded by Brit Pruiksma in early 2020, Mothflower is a new online gallery with a rapidly growing following and a focus on nurturing an engaged and supportive online creative community.
Mothflower’s strong aesthetic blends the ethereal with the bold, the new with the old and the surreal with the intimate. One of those rare accounts with a feed is both continually innovative and inviting, Mothflower champions the partnership between skill and concept and has been an instrumental force in bringing the new wave of hazy and emotive folk art to the forefront of contemporary art.
Painters Painting Paintings
Painters Painting Paintings is an homage to the power of painting. From traditional oil paintings that hark back to the skill of Renaissance artists, to vast and various landscapes with an otherworldly quality to them, this platform shows just how vital painting is in the history of art and in its future.
Painters Painting Paintings presents realism in all its many forms, from the delicate and observant, to the dramatic and visceral. Whilst the platform may be dedicated to one medium and has a distinct appreciation of technique, its breadth of art is diverse, compelling and entirely original. With plans to stage a series of solo and group online exhibitions, Painters Painting Paintings is one to watch.
Hello Artists
One of our favourites from the past year has been Hello Artists, a platform focused on, but not limited to, photography. Each of Hello Artists’ photography posts presents itself as a short story, introducing its audience to a sequence of characters, cultures and narratives that instantly draw you in. Using Instagram’s carousel in the most effective way possible, Hello Artists doesn’t hide 'less powerful' photographs behind the opening image, and instead, create a rich portfolio of works that take us to hidden scenes around the world and highlight the beauty to be found in everyday rituals.
Hello Artists is curated by Barcelona-based Art Director and painter Pau Lart, whose account is also worth a follow. If you’re looking for photography that combines the observant eye of photojournalism and the poetic approach of fine art photography, Hello Artists is the platform for you.
Another Kind
Another Kind may be an account you already follow, or if you don’t, you should. Dubbed by 1 Granary Magazine, ‘fashion’s favourite Instagram account’, Another Kind archives images you’ll want to look at again and again. The platform is run by James Chester, an Art Director and founder of the vintage specialist, One of a Kind, and is his way of sharing that which inspires him, as well as some of his own creative projects.
Another Kind is a mood board of what we wished our dreams looked like, radiating colour and celebrating the beauty of the eccentric. There’s no guessing what James’ next post will be, what story will next be told in his stream of surreal and seductive images that form Another Kind’s feed.