Earlier this week, rap star Kanye West took to Twitter declaring that he would teach at the Art Institute of Chicago and the American Academy of Art—a claim that both institutions denied in emails to artnet News. Fans left hanging can now see what they might be missing over on his Instagram.
Beginning on Tuesday, September 11, West returned to the social media app after a six-month hiatus. Specifically, he posted a photograph of a hillside—followed by a rough contour sketch of the same landscape, presumably by the rapper/producer/fashion designer himself, with the (oddly phrased) caption “Buildings inside the hills of Columbia.”
Kanye has long been a fan of contemporary art. He’s collaborated with Takashi Murakami multiple times, most recently for the cover of his joint album with Kid Cudi, Kids See Ghosts. In late August West went on a Twitter spree, posting pictures of work by Kerry James Marshall, whom he effusively thanked for his “amazing work.”
Back 2016, West’s waxworks-style installation featuring 12 super-real silicon replicas of celebrities in bed together, Famous, got a two-day run at LA’s Blum & Poe gallery (the asking price, reportedly, was $4 million).
The new posts, however, are a rare work at work that comes from the hand of the artist himself.
West uploaded a series of portraits sketched on hotel stationary, with handwritten captions documenting his daily activities. The images range from a studio session with the rapper Daniel Hernandez, aka Tekashi 6ix9ine, to an account of dinner with Maurice Armitage, the mayor of Cali, one of the largest cities in Colombia.
Although it’s not clear what Yeezy was doing with the mayor, he simultaneously Tweeted an inspirational quote reading only “love is serving others —Maurice Armitage.”