There seems to be an Instagram account for everything these days, from paintings of animals in bizarre positions to a single picture of an egg that got the most likes in Instagram history.
So of course there are also Instagram “art accounts” featuring people who travel around to galleries and museums and take pictures of the work they come across for their tens of thousands of followers. We surveyed a few people behind some of the more popular art accounts and asked them what it takes to build a successful social media presence.
Pari Ehsan
Find Her: @paridust
Claim to Fame: Art and fashion blogger
Follower Count: 194k
How to Stand Out: Come from a place of adding value. For me, it is to incite the act of discovery or creation in others. To be a resource for something I think is of great value, carve a niche, and create and share content as an extension of what compels you.
How to Attract and Retain Followers: Instagram karma. Be generous and genuine in your engagement with others on the platform and it will come back to you.
Cecilia Alemani
Find Her: @ceciliaalemani
Claim to Fame: Director and chief curator of High Line Art
Follower Count: 24.1k
Who She Follows and Why: I like accounts by artists. I like when I can see a voice or personal style. Of course from someone like Cindy Sherman, whose account is an artwork on its own, but also Tauba Auerbach, David Horvitz, Mickalene Thomas, Amalia Ulman, Viviane Sassen, Xaviera Simmons, Kevin Beasley, Guillermo Kuitca, Sable Elyse Smith. And colleagues like Neville Wakefield, Eva Respini, Gianni Jetzer, Matthew Higgs, Eugenie Tsai. I admire people that can actually write meaningful descriptions that accompany their posts.
What Makes for a Great Post: A captivating photo, a weird crop, an image that is not immediately recognizable, and an amusing hashtag.
Eva Respini
Find Her: @curator_on_the_run
Claim to Fame: Chief curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
Follower Count: 38k
How She Stands Out: My job as a curator means I see a lot of art, in person and in the flesh. I feel very privileged to be able to travel to discover art and be with artists. My Instagram is a visual diary of my research. I post what I see, what captures my interest the most, and [offer] some insights into my job working with art and artists.
What Makes for a Great Post: Instagram is a visual medium, so the post needs to be dynamic on an aesthetic level. I am attracted to things that I have never seen before, and art and artists that I am thinking about.
Antwaun Sargent
Find Him: @sirsargent
Claim to Fame: Author of The New Black Vanguard: Photography Between Art and Fashion (Aperture, Autumn 2019)
Follower Count: 56.4k
How He Stands Out: For me, it’s always been about showing my perspective as authentically as I can. It’s not really about being a brand. It’s about sharing the images that I find fascinating or aspects of my life that are interesting. It’s less about trying to stay relevant, and more about communicating with images.
How to Attract and Retain Followers: It’s a happenstance of people responding to “content.” People follow, they unfollow—I don’t really care—but it’s organic. People for some reason or another are attracted to my point of view, and the clothes I’m wearing moreso than anything else probably. It’s not an effort. I’m not thinking of a follower count.
Yuri Yureeka Yasuda
Find Her: @yureeka and @tokyoartoffice
Claim to Fame: Journalist and tea sommelier
Follower Count: 25.7k (between both accounts)
How to Stand Out: [I don’t do anything] too special, to be honest. I travel constantly for work and leisure, so I often find myself in Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, and Paris, sometimes in a single week. I get to visit many galleries across the globe that way. Since I have many friends who are collectors, I’m thinking about featuring more of their collections and home interiors instead of gallery shows. They make for more “exclusive” personable photos.