Someone once said pictures are worth a thousand words. Someone did not follow @sickid1. To be clear, I’m not saying this Instagram artist’s works — reminiscent of Beeple, Beavis & Butthead, or, perhaps, particularly inspired bar bathroom graffiti — are not worthy of the human race’s most valuable currency, words. I’m just saying I have none. 

But @sickid1 — aka ‘slutty gordito💖🍥’ (the Internet still makes no sense to me) — gives us one better. These grotesque, surreal illustrations evoke not words, but feelings; ones I also have trouble putting into words. Sarcastic disdain for the banality of being. Cringing at a disgusting and accurate representation of our current affairs. Belly laughing at an adult animated cartoon airing on network television in a motel room. 

Slutty gordito💖🍥 is one of those artists whose art evolves with their creative experiments and emotional experiences, a reflection of their timeless present state, buttressed against the myriad of scenarios and challenges life routinely throws at us. These are the ideal candidates to adapt their perspective to a new technological landscape, the least likely to interpret ‘NFT art’ as ‘spunk guzzling animal PFPs’ (well, maybe not least) and most likely to create something truly insightful and unique. 

Currently, though, @sickid1 is as un-meta as they come, too busy painting the literal Los Angeles landscape — billboards, bridges, bus carts — with cultural commentary to bother with web3. When you’re ready to monetize your sick content, kid, UniPro eagerly awaits. In the meantime, we support your cultural endeavor all the more for it. The anons of IRL. Our fearless army of taggers. Shoutout Banksy, shoutout Siya.