Photo: instagram.com/the_kaplan_twins
Well, that's one way to make a living.
By Shannon Ullman — Written on Mar 26, 2020
A lot of things get passed off as art these days. And why not? The value of art really is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it, right?
I mean, anything can be art... even two beautiful twins who pose naked and take suggestive photos with toys.
Who are the Kaplan twins?
The Kaplan Twins are two sisters from New Jersey who moved to LA to become artists. A few years ago, the twins revealed their latest art project, Boy Toys, an Instagram-only venture that involved the sisters posing suggestively with children’s toys.
They posted the photos on Instagram and were selling them for over $300 a piece, more than 100 times what they originally had paid for them.
So, is this art? Are these girls geniuses? And is this project inherently feminist? The project and the twins raised a ton of questions within the art community.
On their website's bio, it says that Allie and Lexi Kaplan both have art degrees from NYU, so they're at least qualified to be taking part in this artistic endeavor.
In a 2016 interview with Vice, the Kaplan Twins went into detail about their art project. Considering themselves to be pop artists, the twins said they saw a space in the art world that needed to be filled. Similar to Andy Warhol, an artist who is also a famous figure, it doesn’t seem to exist in today’s world.
Hoping to fill that void, the twins have taken to Instagram to get the word out about not only their art, but also themselves. Hailing from the east coast, the girls felt that the art community in New York City was set in its ways, so they came to LA where they felt that more was possible.
In the past, they had created a lot of artwork that depicted celebrity sex scandals. One of their pieces, a recreation of Kim Kardashian’s sex tape, was actually bought by PornHub for their office.
It was this Kim K. painting that actually got the attention of Matty Mo, who goes by the name The Most Famous Artist. Starting his career in Silicon Valley, he eventually was shunned after photos of him drunk on a beach in India surfaced on the internet.
Now, he has started what he calls an "art incubator," where he invites artists that he feels have potential. After finding the Kaplan Twins online, he asked them to move into the space.
Matty Mo says that he helped the twins discover that posing naked with toys would help them integrate themselves into the world, after the girls noticed that photos of them got more likes than their art.
While the feminists out there may be excited by the project, the Kaplan Twins say that it isn’t their intention to fight for feminism. Whether it comes off feminist or not, the girls say that they do it because it is inherently part of their culture.
They had great success with the project, having sold all seven of the toys on Instagram within 72 hours. While they’ve pulled in quite a lot of earnings, their business arrangement with The Most Famous Artist requires them to split the earnings three ways.
During the interview, the buyer of the Batman toy, a German art collector, was asked why he made the purchase. He said that it had a lot less to do with the seductive photos of the twins, as he has a wife and children, and more to do with an investment factor.
He seems to believe that the twins will be quite famous some day, making his initial investment in the Batman toy worth a lot more money. And he may have been somewhat right about that.
Fast forward to a few years later and the twins appear to be thriving. Not only have they amassed a pretty impressive social media following, but they also recently appeared on the MTV reality series, Ex On The Beach. They also moved into their own apartment, where they converted half the space into an art studio.
However, whether or not they end up as the Andy Warhols of this generation is still a mystery, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if they were able to pull it off.
Shannon Ullman is a writer who focuses on women’s health, lifestyle, and relationships.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted on May 4, 2017 and was updated with the latest information.