LJ Rader set out to make memes as a way to bide time during the pandemic, but what he built turned into much more than a hobby. Now sporting hundreds of thousands of followers across platforms, his memes are even being used around the world as art education tools. “ArtButMakeItSports” pairs sports photography with paintings and sculpture, and has fostered a community so strong, it inspired him to take his memes to print. We sat down with LJ ahead of the World Cup to talk about how he got his start, the process behind the account, and where he wants to take it next. 

_{LJ Rader and his new book “Art But Make It Sports: Epic Matchups Where Art and Sports Collide” Photo by Matthew Lim Photography, courtesy of Chronicle Books}

You started the account in 2019 with one art-history class and a phone full of photos from museums. Most people with that setup would never have made that connection. Where did the instinct to pair sports and art actually come from?

I’ve always seen things through a sports lens, and art is no different. At first, I was just writing sports-related captions on top of art, and eventually realized it would be easier/more fluid just to put the two images next to each other. This was also during Covid, so was a way to keep busy during quarantine. And I just never really stopped, and here we are today.

Your process involves matching colors, poses, and emotional energy across centuries of paintings and sculptures. When a pairing clicks, is it an instant recognition or more of a hunt? Walk us through what finding a match actually looks like.

Depends - sometimes it’s instant recognition of either a famous work or a work I’ve photographed. Other times it’s seeing a certain theme in art history in a sports image, or a certain artist’s style, but not knowing the exact piece, and then looking through the catalog of their work. Those end up being the most rewarding, because it means I was able to make a match based on my knowledge of art as opposed to my visual library, which feels a bit more special/impressive. It’s not just something I memorized visually, but instead something I taught myself, went out and leveraged, and then used to come up with the matchup.

_{Screenshot from ArtButMakeItSports on Instagram (2026)}

Your book “Art But Make It Sports: Epic Matchups Where Art and Sports Collide” dropped in March. What was the moment that you decided that you wanted to take the work you had done on Social Media feeds into the realm of the printed word?

I think the peer pressure from the community just hit critical mass and was enough inertia to push me into writing a book. I’m glad I did, as it was a fun process and helps bring the account to a wider audience. But it wasn’t something that I was necessarily hellbent on doing. A lot of folks helped make this possible; my literary agent, publisher, and Getty Images. And then obviously the community for coming out and supporting things!

You've built a massive sports audience, but clearly made an impact in the art world too. What's something you've learned from bridging those two communities that surprised you?

Less surprised and more never really thought about, but apparently the account & book have become important tools for folks in the educational world. I hear from art teachers all the time that they use the account to introduce students to art history, and that it’s a great way for them to help bridge the gap. So, that’s rewarding.

_{Screenshot from ArtButMakeItSports on Instagram (2026)}

You've been vocal about not using AI to make the matches, partly because the search process gets you into galleries and museums. Do you think the account would still work if it were AI-generated? Is the human eye the product, or just the method?

Nah, I’ve thrown a few images into AI before just to see what happens and they don’t come remotely close visually, let alone on being able to capture the vibes. 

The World Cup kicks off June 11, the biggest football tournament in history with 48 nations competing across the US, Canada, and Mexico. For an event at this scale, with so many cultures, visual traditions, and playing styles represented at once, what does that mean for the account? Does a tournament like this open up the art history in a way a regular season doesn’t?

Big events often bring out the best, especially because the large moments from games become shared experiences. When everyone is tuned in/eyeballs are glued to the same things, it means there’s a much wider opportunity to engage, which is always fun.

_{Screenshot from ArtButMakeItSports on Instagram (2026)}

Is there a sport you haven't cracked yet? One where the visual language feels genuinely hard to translate into painting or sculpture? And in the same vein, do you have an artwork that you’re holding onto for the perfect sports photo?

Part of what makes the account work is that I understand not just the art, but also the context of the sport itself. There are a few international sports that I’d love to learn more about; Rugby, Cricket…and if I do, then I’d start to feature them more often. I just always try to be careful to capture the essence of the sports image, and that becomes hard if I don’t know the sport.

What do you want people to leave with after a few minutes on the account? Is there something you're hoping changes in the way art fans see sport? Or how sports fans see art?

I don’t really have an agenda other than I hope it makes people chuckle. It's fun to hear about people taking away deeper meaning, and I certainly set the account up to facilitate that, but at the end of the day don’t need it to be anything more than entertaining memes.

Be sure to follow LJ’s work on Instagram, SubStack, Threads, Blue Sky, and Twitter!