@YoungThugAsPaintings is the Instagram account that takes the idea of Young Thug being a walking piece of art and runs with it. The premise is simple: each post juxtaposes an image of Thugger with classic works of art. There's him checking his reflection placed alongside In The Mirror by French painter Jacques Emile Blanche; another captures the rapper striking a similar pose to Carvaggio's St. Jerome Writing. Elsewhere you get Thug looking bored at Yeezy Season 3 alongside Paolo Veronese's 1580 painting Vision of St Helena, while his love for girlfriend Jerrika is compared with William-Adolphe Bouguereau's work.
The FADER has reached out to the anonymous person behind the account, who states in their bio that this is "literally my school project." We will update this post when we hear back from them. Check out the best of the account below and follow @YoungThugAsPaintings now.
Update, 6/6/2016: the person running @youngthugaspaintings is 21 year old Dutch student Hajar Benjida.
Speaking to The FADER via email, Benjida says of Young Thug: "Besides the fact that he is walking art and that I'm a big fan of him and his work. I actually had no idea what to do for a school project and this was one of the first times we didn't actually have to take photos for an assignment, and the lazy person I am I really took my chance on this one. It was mainly the cover issue of Thugger for Dazed, the photos shot for this issue literally look like paintings. This was the first comparison I made. Also the album art choices for his mixtapes are really interesting and I like hip-hop to be the subject of my art/photography."