Image via Complex Original
Intro
It's no secret that you can "follow" virtually anything on Twitter, and that it's become the best tool to aggregate feeds from friends, celebrities, news sources, and memes. Sometimes you're just looking to stay up-to-date on the coolest art shows, and at other times you just want some design inspiration. Lucky for you, this list covers it all, whether it be awesome artists and designers or actual museums and galleries.
We've appropriately created a list on our @Complex_Art Twitter account, so you can follow them all in one easy place. Follow us and the list while you're at it, too!
http://twitter.com/#!/Complex_Art/art-twitter-accounts
25 Must Follow Art Twitter Accounts
RELATED: Four Pins - Our 10 Favorite Twitter Accounts of 2013
deviantART
deviantART (@deviantART)
Who: Heidi and Lauren from Hollywood.
What to expect: Important art news and the work of deviants (plus a little gossip).
Artsy
Art.sy (@artsy)
Who: A new way to search and discover art online at Art.sy.
What to expect: A comprehensive stream of tweets and re-tweets involving contemporary art, art history, art sales, technology in art, and everything in between.
ArtFagCity
ArtFagCity (@artfagcity)
Who: New York City-based art blogger, Paddy Johnson.
What to expect: Regular updates on art news, interspersed with regular rants from Johnson about when design in public spaces goes wrong (for example, the lighting at New York's Penn Station sucks).
It's Nice That
It's Nice That (@itsnicethat)
Who: London-based creative design bloggers.
What to expect: Regular tweets that highlight the best of every creative industry.
Steven Heller
Steven Heller (@thedailyheller)
Who: Design historian, Printmag blogger, and SVA professor, Steven Heller.
What to expect: A regular look at the world of design through the well-trained eye of a man who has produced a ton of books on the subject and written for the likes of the New York Times and Paper Magazine.
OHWOW Gallery
OHWOW Gallery (@OHWOWGallery)
Who: Art Gallery and publisher pushing shows in LA, Miami, and NYC.
What to expect: News about gallery shows and publications, plus helpful leads for finding out more about artists set to exhibit at the new Los Angeles gallery.
Follow @OHWOWGallery
Honor Fraser
Honor Fraser (@honorfraserinc)
Who: LA's leading contemporary art gallery.
What to expect: All the news you need about Honor Fraser artist, KAWS. What other reason did you need to follow?
Follow @honorfraserinc
Fastcodesign
Co.Design (@FastCoDesign)
Who: Fast Company's Co.Design channel, at the intersection of business and design.
What to expect: Links to excellent design content from trends to interviews and competitions.
Bobby Solomon
Bobby Solomon (@thefoxisblack)
Who: Bobby Solomon, an art director, designer, and writer in Los Angeles, California.
What to expect: Bobby tweets a lot of art and design news from both his website Thefoxisblack.com and others, usually interspersed with various "I love Los Angeles" tweets. His account is great to follow for a number of reasons, if not only for his stunning instagrams and the weekly Desktop Wallpaper Project he hosts.
OpusArt
OpusArt (@opusart)
Who: Newcastle-based gallery representing the top emerging talent in Britain.
What to expect: Regular news about Opus artists and new releases at the gallery. Get the scoop on limited-edition prints.
Follow @opusart
Gagosian
Gagosian (@gagosian)
Who: Global gallery franchise representing A-list artists for A-list clients.
What to expect: Frequent exhibition news and one of the most vibrant feeds detailing major art commissions by top-shelf brands. And, of course, a good deal of banter about artists on the gallery roster…including Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami, Tom Sachs, and Julian Schnabel.
Valerie Vargas
Valerie Vargas (@ValerieFST)
Who: Tattoo artist at London's Frith Street.
What to expect: Links to all the best tattoo news plus Ms. Vargas' take on museums and some art gossip.
ESPO
ESPO (@steveESPOpowers)
Who: Famed graffiti writer ESPO, aka fine artist Steve Powers.
What to expect: Hilarious notes about New York City, rap music, and street art. Plus, a wry take on politics.
Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei (@aiww)
Who: Chinese contemporary artist and social activist.
What to expect: Ai Weiwei's twitter is frank in talking about social issues in China and around the world. Weiwei is a pioneer in using social media as an artist to engage an audience. His own tweets are in Chinese, but you can follow through the very helpful @aiwwenglish feed.
OsGemeos
OsGemeos (@OsGemeos)
Who: Brazilian twins with a knack for mural art.
What to expect: If you can get past the fact that most of the tweets are in Portuguese, you'll be blessed with regular updates on this exciting duos art adventures. Recently, they've been working with Range Rover. It's not too regularly updated, but good when it is.
Benny Gold
Benny Gold (@bennygold)
Who: Benny Gold - graphic designer and owner of self-named streetwear brand from San Francisco.
What to expect: Benny Gold is quick to connect with followers, so expect his feed to include ample retweets. He's also fond of his French bulldog, whose appearance is never unwarranted or unwanted. Sneak peaks at new work come with some regularity and always generates a little excitement.
Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey (@obeygiant)
Who: Street art god Shepard Fairey.
What to expect: Shepard Fairey's twitter isn't just a tool for self-promotion, but it's one for social activation as well. Fairey is particularly good as a not-so-overbearing pusher of art projects with a community push. There is, of course, the occasional plug for the Obey clothing line as well.
Mattress Factory
Mattress Factory (@MattressFactory)
Who: Pittsburg's leading contemporary art center.
What to expect: News from one of America's coolest art centers. The Mattress Factory also keeps followers up-to-date with events at the museum and beyond. Added bonus - the feed is funny and has real personality, which is pretty rare for an institutional account.
V&A
V&A (@V_and_A)
Who: London's Victoria & Albert Museum, possibly (probably) the world's greatest museum of art and design.
What to expect: Tweets related to anything and everything at the museum: job openings, store sales, and, of course, updates about museum exhibitions. The feed also has regular features like #curatorschoice, #freelivemusic, and behind-the-scenes looks at the institution.
SFMOMA
SFMoMA (@SFMOMA)
Who: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
What to expect: Frequent re-tweets of visitor produced art and some of the best art coverage from around the web.
MoMA
MoMA (@MuseumModernArt)
Who: The Museum of Modern Art, New York City.
What to expect: Challenges like "Do You Know Your MoMA?," curator notes, daily history, and up-to-minute event listings.
Mark Weaver
Mark Weaver (@markweaver)
Who: NYC-based designer, artist, and illustrator.
What to expect: Updates on his personal work, those of his talented friends, instagrams of Brooklyn, cool Tumblrs, design advice, and overall design inspiration.
Tate
Tate (@tate)
Who: A team of five ladies plus the Tate Info team representing four art museums across the UK.
What to expect: Lots of news about exhibitions and highlighted art works throughout the week. The Tate twitter feed also interacts with followers and asks pertinent questions like "Which artist would YOU like to walk around Tate with?"
Whitney
Whitney (@whitneymuseum)
Who: The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City.
What to expect: Art history tidbits (like, "who was born on this day" type stuff), event reminders, and occasional notes about the museum's new "Untitled" restaurant.
Museum Nerd
Museum Nerd (@museumnerd)
Who: An art historian and museum nerd from Brooklyn.
What to expect: Witty and engaging reports from (frequent) museum visits and commentary on museum news. Also, some very good twitpics.