Death And The Maiden. 169 X 147 cm. Airbrush, Vinyl And Oil On Canvas (2018)
The Group Show
Opening in June at Stene Projects Stockholm
Filippa Barkman, Cecilia Edefalk, Åsa Jungnelius, Nina Ölund Noreskär, Kristoffer Zetterstrand
Original article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/01/31/how-this-amateur-painting-became-hilarious-social-media-sensation/?utm_term=.bcd985137ae8
By Allison KleinJanuary 31 at 8:45 AM
Cindi Decker with her egret painting. (Matthew Decker)
Florida schoolteacher Cindi Decker went to a painting class with a friend and came back with a vivid egret she’d painted on canvas.
Her teenage son snapped a photo of her holding it, and posted it on the social media site Reddit with the caption: “My mom painted this and said no one would like it. It’s her 2nd painting.”
More than 24,000 people “upvoted” it within a few hours that evening of Jan. 15, which tickled both Decker and her son, Matthew Decker.
They had no idea the chain reaction of hilarious and masterful paintings that were about to follow.
The next day, an artist in Sweden — Kristoffer Zetterstrand, who is known for his paintings in the video game Minecraft — saw the posting and decided to paint Matthew’s photo of his mother holding her painting.
He posted on Reddit a photo of himself holding his painting with the caption: “I painted somebody’s mom.”
Swedish artist Kristoffer Zetterstrand holds the painting he made of Cindi Decker and her art. (Kristoffer Zetterstrand)
Pretty meta, right? But wait.
Two days later, a journalism student in Canada named Laila Amer painted a picture of Zetterstrand holding his painting. She posted a photo of it on Reddit — with her holding it, of course. “Took a while and not perfect,” she wrote. “But I painted the guy who painted the other guy’s mom.”
Laila Amer holding her painting. (Saif Amer)
From there, it took off.
Hours later, someone posted a painting of Amer holding Zetterstrand’s painting holding Decker’s painting.
And hours after that, artist Traci Sethre painted him painting the others and posted it on the social media site.
Artist Traci Sethre with her painting. (Jennifer Sethre)
Then, Indiana artist Travis Simpson saw what was going on and wanted in. He said he knew artists everywhere were painting fast so they could get their painting up before others could. He stayed up all night to paint the latest iteration, then posted a photo, writing on Reddit, “When it sinks in that I stayed up most of the night to paint a meme for internet points…”
Indiana artist Travis Simpson with his painting. (Chelsea Simpson)
On it went for many more layers of paintings over several days, until the painting of Decker was so tiny you could barely see it. Flow charts and doodles of the paintings appeared. And by this time more than a million people had seen the antic and Decker, 55, had been nicknamed “the honorary mom of Reddit,” she told The Washington Post.
Decker, who lives in Jacksonville, joined Reddit with the name “imthemomwhopaints” to thank everyone and bask in her brief moment in the social media spotlight. She said at first she was nervous when her son told her he posted her painting on Reddit.
“I was in fear I was going to read a lot of hateful comments,” she wrote in a post. “You all have proven me so wrong. I’m assuming most of you could be my kids, and y’all get a bad rap in this world. You all are compassionate, caring, and a ton of fun! Thanks for uplifting me! You all have inspired me instead.”
So how exactly does a meme like this happen?
Zetterstrand said it all started when he saw Matthew Decker’s post. (Matthew said he posted it for “karma,” which is a virtual reward for posting popular content.)
Zetterstrand said he was on his way to work and noticed on Reddit some posts of people showing their mother’s paintings. He often paints what he calls “warm-up” paintings when he arrives at his studio, and he picked Decker’s photo to paint.
“So this day I decided to do that photo, just for fun,” Zetterstrand told The Washington Post. “It took a couple of hours. Then I thought it might be entertaining to post a picture of me holding it — at the same place on Reddit I got it from.”
Amer, a Canadian journalism student who enjoys painting, said when she saw Zetterstrand’s art, the idea struck her right away.
“I just thought it would be a really fun thing to do, albeit kind of stressful,” she told The Washington Post. “I knew people would get a kick out of it, so I thought ‘why not?’”
The artists, most of whom say they have not been in touch with each other, have been blown away by the enormous response. Each photo and painting gets tens of thousands of “upvotes” and hundreds of comments.
Zetterstrand called it “hilarious and weird.” He said he’s gotten thousands of comments on Reddit, as well as hundreds of messages and emails. He estimates that between several social media sites, millions of people have seen his painting.
“Many have contacted me and told me that it made them genuinely happy,” he said, adding that people have contacted him asking for tips about painting and becoming a professional artist. “It’s touching, really.”
He said apart from the painting he did for Minecraft, he works in Stockholm as a professional artist.
“It’s a bit absurd to see a quick oil sketch that I did for fun completely blow all my serious work out of the water in terms of views,” he said. “I’m not complaining, and it IS funny — but it makes me scratch my head.”
Zetterstrand and Decker have communicated, and he has shipped her the painting he made of her. She said her mother knit a hat for Zetterstrand like the one he’s wearing in the photo.
“So many people have been so kind,” Decker said. “They say, ‘Keep us updated and post your next painting.’ But I’m not going to. I don’t want to wear out my welcome.”
She said she’s content with her one burst of notoriety.
“It’s put a pep in my step, that’s for sure,” she said.
It sounds like the beginning of a children’s nursery rhyme: “I painted the woman who painted the guy who painted the lady who painted the swan.”
That is how one social media user described her picture, in the latest “paintception” phenomenon which is taking Reddit by storm.
The craze has produced dozens of mind-bending pictures, depicting paintings within paintings.
And it all started with a picture of an egret, painted by Cindi Decker, which was then posted to Reddit by her son.
“I am just a very ordinary mum who has had an extraordinary few days” Cindi, a 55-year-old teacher from Jacksonville, Florida said.
Cindi, who must now be one of the most popular mothers on Reddit, painted her egret, dubbed a “swan” by social media users, at an art class she attended with a friend one evening.
She had no idea what her son had in mind. “I honestly thought he was just showing his friends on Snapchat,” she admitted. “I don’t even know what an upvote is.”
The picture of Cindi holding her painting has now recieved 75,000 upvotes on Reddit and is proving popular on other social media sites, including Imgur where it has been viewed 1.14 million times.
“I am not an artist, simply a regular mum” she added.
While Cindi was the original artist, this latest trend to paint a picture of a picture started with Kristoffer Zetterstrand, a 45-year-old artist from Sweden who said he was browsing Reddit and saw several photos of mothers showing off their paintings.
“I thought it was cute, and had the idea that I would paint one of those photos just for fun,” he told the BBC.
“It’s really weird,” he said, describing the craze he has instigated. “Last I counted there were over 40 paintings. I keep getting smaller and smaller.
“It’s been very surprising,” he added.
As a result he’s had hundreds of positive comments about his artwork, and 120,000 upvotes in five days for his Reddit post.
“I’ve spoken to the original artist and she’s very happy about the whole thing. I’m going to send her my painting.”
And then Reddit user lillyofthenight spotted Kristoffer’s painting and decided to immortalise him and Cindi – her picture has received 112,000 upvotes in 72 hours.
And so it continues with other artists adding to the mix.
“Eventually, there will be one painting to rule them all” wrote inthesandtrap.
Reddit user My-Internet_Voice posted his own homage to the trend in a gif – his post has gained more than 100,000 upvotes in 48 hours.
Reddit users, includin zcuhdee and Nubleh, help show the extent to which this painting phenomenon has escalated.
https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/1kagml/darfor-har-svenska-kristoffers-tavla-setts–av-miljontals
av Eneida Berisha
Efter att konstnären Kristoffer målat av en främlings mamma och delat det på nätforumet Reddit ville fler användare hoppa på tåget – och vips så hade en stor sammanslagning av främlingar som målar av varandra skapats.
– Nu har flera miljoner sett de här bilderna så det är ju roligt, säger Kristoffer Zetterstrand.
Varje morgon väljer konstnären Kristoffer Zetterstrand, 43, att måla av något enkelt för att gå igång kreativiteten i sin ateljé i Stockholm. Efter att ha scrollat lite på nätforumet Redditsåg han ett inlägg han fastnade för.
”Min mamma har målat en tavla och hon tror inte att någon kommer att gilla den” hade trådstartaren skrivit. Bilden i inlägget föreställde en äldre dam som höll i en målning på en svan.
– Jag tänkte ”men det här kan ju vara lite kul, jag tar den i dag”, berättar Kristoffer.
Kristoffer målade av bilden på kvinnan, tog en bild på sig själv med den och delade den sedan i den nya tråden ”Jag målade av någons mamma”.
– Det såg ju lite kul ut, eftersom jag står där med en målning i famnen som föreställer den här kvinnan med en målning i famnen. Det är lite meta, säger Kristoffer.
| FOTO: PRIVAT.Kristoffer målade av fotot på mamman och hennes målning.
Kristoffers bild utlöste en kedjereaktion på forumet.
Kort efter att han lagt upp bilden på sig själv och sin målning, som föreställde kvinnan som höll i sin egen svan-målning, så delade en främling med sig av en ny bild. Den här bilden föreställde främlingen hållandes i sin egen målning – av Kristoffer som står med mammans målning.
Efter det fylldes tråden på av flera människor som hakade på Kristoffers idé och delade bilder där de målat av den senaste bilden i tråden.
– Jag trodde inte att det skulle bli en så stor grej, bara några timmar efter så hade jag hundra meddelanden från främlingar som tyckte det var fint gjort. Nu är det flera miljoner som sett de här bilderna så det är ju roligt, säger Kristoffer.
Efter att mamman sett Kristoffers målning hörde hon av sig för att tacka honom. Nu ska målningen tas från hans ateljé i Stockholm och sändas ändå till Florida, USA.
– Hon och sonen var jätteglada och tyckte att det var skitkul så jag erbjöd mig att skicka i väg den, berättar Kristoffer.
På sitt nyregistrerade Reddit-konto skriver mamman att hon ”är tacksam över hur männniskor kommit samman och inspirerats”.
– Hon var väldigt rörd och kände sig extatisk över att hon startat igång den här stora sammanslagningen av främlingar som målar av varandra, säger Kristoffer.
Original Article:
2019-01-22 19:14/ CDC
…A mulher que pintou o homem que pintou a mulher que pintou o cisne… Um cisne que, por acaso, até é uma garça. Mas que passou a ser designada por cisne, na multiplicação que para aí vai nas redes sociais e que está a fazer alastrar este fenómeno pictórico, digamos assim.
E tudo começou quando o filho de Cindi, uma professora norte-americana de 55 anos, residente em Jacksonville, na Florida, publicou na rede socialReddit uma foto da mãe com um quadro, por ela pintado, de uma garça. Que passaria a ser vista e designada como um cisne…
..Sobretudo, quando o sueco Kristoffer Zetterstrand, de 45 anos, resolveu pintar um quadro com Cindi mostrando a sua tela com a garça. Ou cisne. E a partir daí, a loucura começou.
Agora, a nova moda consiste em pintar quadros dos quadros.
Porque, a partir da fotografia de Cindi a segurar o seu quadro, foi pintado outro quadro. E a partir da fotografia desse pintor a agarrar o seu quadro – com Cindi segurando o seu – outro pintou outro quadro. E assim sucessivamente.
A norte-americana Cindi pintou a sua garça numa aula de artes a que foi com uma amiga. Só quando a foto foi publicada pelo seu filho é que se tornou, talvez, a mãe mais famosa do Reddit.
O Reddit é a rede social que permite aos utilizadores partilhar ligações para conteúdos da internet. Permite votar contra ou favor dos conteúdos publicados, que podem ser desde notícias de última hora a simples histórias, incluindo também fotografias ou vídeos.
Não sou nenhuma artista, sou só uma mãe normal”, disse Cindi à BBC.
A fotografia de Cindi a agarrar o seu quadro de um cisne recebeu mais de 75 mil votos a favor no Reddit, mas já se espalhou para outras redes sociais, como o Imgur, onde já foi vista mais de 1,14 milhões de vezes.
Depois, como já se disse, a cadeia foi desencadeada através do artista sueco de 45 anos, Kristoffer Zetterstrand, que decidiu pintar um quadro da fotografia de Cindi a segurar o seu quadro.
Achei engraçado e decidi pintar a fotografia só pela piada (…) agora está a ficar estranho… Da última vez que contei já havia mais de 40 fotografias. Vou ficando cada vez mais pequeno”, referiu Kristoffer.
A sua publicação rendeu mais de 120 mil votos a favor no Reddit. E, registe-se, o sueco já falou com Cindi e vai oferecer-lhe o seu quadro.
Entretanto, claro, foi feito um quadro de Kristoffer a segurar a sua pintura, e outro da rapariga que o pintou, e outro…
Agora, há cada vez mais artistas a aderir à nova moda, de pintar o pintor a segurar o quadro do pintor… E por aí fora…
