#modernistkinkade

Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye set in a wintry Christmas Thomas Kinkade landscape (image by @robyniko)

Internet memes quickly propagate across social networks like Twitter. The most popular “go viral” at the speed of light as media sites share and reshare content, typically within specific Internet subcultures. A classic instance of this effect caught my attention and the notice of others across the architectural Twitterverse just over a week ago: Indianapolis architect @robyniko debuted a bravura series of Photoshopped mashups featuring icons of 20th century domestic architecture set within the glowing, pastoral landscapes of mass-market “Painter of Light,” Thomas Kinkade. The dissonance inherent in the unlikely melding of high modernism and twee kitsch spurred a broad and timely online conversation about the cultural chasm between so-called “elites” (of which architects supposedly number prominently) and social conservatives. 

Various outlets immediately picked up on the #modernistkinkade experiment, among others Fast Company, Curbed, The Architect’s Newspaper, and Archinect. 

@robyniko’s work was in response to a challenge posed by fellow architect and Twitterer @DonnaSinkArch. “Does anyone do paintings of Modern buildings in the style of Thomas Kincade (sic)?” Donna asked. She wondered if “Trad Arch ethnonationalists would like Modernism better with a Painter of Light glow.” A self-proclaimed procrastinator, #robyniko had “a lot to do” and his wife “would kill” him if she knew he spent time on his little diversion but “you don’t get to pick when you get the call to be a hero.” 

Essayist Joan Didion once said of Thomas Kinkade’s style: “A Kinkade painting was typically rendered in slightly surreal pastels. It typically featured a cottage or a house of such insistent coziness as to seem actually sinister, suggestive of a trap designed to attract Hansel and Gretel. Every window was lit, to lurid effect, as if the interior of the structure might be on fire.” The genius of the #modernistkinkade mashups lies in their juxtaposition of Kinkade’s idyllic, sentimental landscapes with seminal designs by the likes of Kahn, Johnson, Le Corbusier, Mies, Eames, and Gehry. The effect is both jarring and disarming for architects raised at the altar of high design. 

Philip Johnson's Glass House gets the #modernistkinkade treatment

@robyniko believes there’s a meaningful conversation to be had about architectural representation and public perception. Reverse-engineering his motivations, he hoped his mashups would foster a worthwhile dialogue. They’ve done this and more, contributing an entertaining counterpoint to the stylistic contretemps fueled by today’s deep social and political divisions. The waggish irony of the chimeric images makes us smile, and there’s nothing wrong with that. 

Alas, all good things do come to an end. Sic transit gloria. @robyniko’s brilliant modernist/kitsch fusions will fade as their Internet half-lives tick away. I’m late to the party but I felt compelled to acknowledge and celebrate his virtuosity. Internet memes may be fleeting but this does not mean they cannot be important, thought-provoking, and lasting in impact.