TORONTO – When Darwin the IKEA Monkey ventured into a Toronto area IKEA parking lot, dressed in his miniature shearling coat, he had no idea he would soon become an international superstar.
Since the seven-month-old monkey’s story went viral there have been countless memes and photographs circulating social media, some even capitalizing on Darwin’s shearling coat-clad adventure.
A painting named “Ikeas Homonkulus” went viral after a Halifax artist posted it on Kijiji with an asking price of $60.
“I’m still not sure what’s happening,” artist Simone Manley told Global News. “I painted it really quickly – kind of as a joke. I can’t stop laughing about it.”
Manley said Darwin’s image reminded her of the botched restoration of a 19th century Jesus painting, prompting her to depict the monkey in the same way.
“He just looked tiny and pathetic,” said Manley. “It cracked me up,”.
Manley, who has a background in painting and graphic design, recently challenged herself to complete one painting a day. Steering away from her more traditional art, Manley began painting memes “for fun.”
After painting images of “Grumpy Cat is Grumpy,” “Business Cat means Business” and “Grumpy Owl,” a Facebook friend suggested Manley take a stab at the IKEA Monkey.
The 6″ by 6″ acrylic painting, which sold for $35, now belongs to the executive director of the P.E.I. arts council.
“Within a few hours I checked the Kijiji ad and saw that it had over 7,000 views,” said Manley.
“I’ve got two more canvases here, that are very good quality, so I’m going to do two large paintings and put those on eBay and see what happens!”
As of Wednesday afternoon, Manley’s Kijiji ad had 7,373 views and she had been contacted by many people interested in knowing more about her painting.
“Now I’m one of those people who can Google themselves,” Manley laughed.
She said she will continue to paint the IKEA Monkey, as long as people will buy the artwork. She also wrote a letter to Ellen DeGeneres telling her about her story.
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