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"10 Meme Paintings to Class Up the Internet\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n1. Prancercise\nImage courtesy of Lauren Kaelin\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2. Ermahgerd Girl\nImage courtesy of Lauren Kaelin\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n3. Antoine Dodson\nImage courtesy of Lauren Kaelin\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n4. IKEA Monkey\nImage courtesy of Lauren Kaelin\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n5. Sloth Photobomb\nImage courtesy of Lauren Kaelin\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n6. Dramatic Chipmunk\nImage courtesy of Lauren Kaelin\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n7. Grumpy Cat\nImage courtesy of Lauren Kaelin\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n8. Texts from Hillary\nImage courtesy of Lauren Kaelin\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n9. \"I Like Turtles\"\nImage courtesy of Lauren Kaelin\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n10. Boo the Dog\nImage courtesy of Lauren Kaelin\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn 1838, photography was a crazy new fad, and images of rare paintings were soon widely distributed for people all over the world to see. Sound familiar? Today, images have similarly spread across the Internet. \nThis concept of democratizing art, once put forth by theorist Walter Benjamin, is the inspiration behind artist Lauren Kaelin's paintings \u2014 well that, and the Ikea monkey meme.\nSEE ALSO: Ermahgerd! Memes Invade Art Masterpieces and School Photos\nCalled \"Benjameme,\" Kaelin's series of paintings each feature a different meme or viral star.\n\"When I first saw the Ikea Monkey, I knew I had to paint him. He's my favorite thing that's ever happened on the internet \u2014 the jacket, the elevator, just how small he is! Prancercising might be a close second,\" she told Mashable.\nTo Kaelin, her paintings are like the reverse of Benjamin's theory: Instead of democratizing art, she says she is taking a widespread, mainstream image and \"creating an aura or an original where none previously existed.\"\n\"Benjamemes, aside from being a place of pure appreciation, is an opportunity to recontextualize these sensations as art objects and ultimately question why,\" Kaelin explained. \"Why is Grumpy Cat so popular? Or auto-tuned Antoine Dodson? I don't know! But I'll paint 'em.\"\nCheck out Kaelin's works of Internet art in the gallery, above. \nImages courtesy of Lauren Kaelin"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/06/05/meme-paintings/>