TikTok Artist Devon Rodriguez Accused of Plagiarism

Devon Rodriguez may well be the most-followed visual artist in the world, possibly in history.

Originally shooting to prominence for his work painting strangers on the subway, he quickly became a viral sensation. Today, between his Instagram and TikTok accounts, he has amassed over 43 million followers. 

A native to New York City, Rodriguez, like many artists in the city, wanted to celebrate the Knicks competing in and then winning the NBA finals. However, when he shared a painting he had completed, followers quickly began to point out similarities between it and an earlier work by fellow New York City-based artist Gavin Snider.

The story went viral with coverage in the New York Times, the Fashion Times, Artnet, and many more. 

Most, it seems, are on the side of Snider. The similarities between the two paintings are overwhelming, and there simply is not much denying that Rodriguez’s work was based on Snider’s. Some have even gone as far as to accuse Rodriguez of using AI to generate his work, even though Rodriguez previously shared a video of himself painting the work.

However, that video, along with all other content related to the painting and a separate earlier work, has been scrubbed from Rodriguez’s social media account. Many have reported being banned for posting critical comments or even liking comments accusing him of plagiarism.

So what happened, and did Rodriguez commit plagiarism? The answer is surprisingly straightforward.

The Story So Far

According to Snider, he was on parental leave in late May, early June when he received a message from the New York Knicks marketing team. They wanted to commission him to paint an image of the crowds outside Madison Square Garden on a very tight deadline.

Snider says he worked through the nights and managed to complete the painting on June 3. The team then shared it out before the series started. 

However, on June 13, Rodriguez shared a video of himself painting a very similar image. Though the styles were different, the composition was almost identical between the two works. Both had the same general structure, both featured a flag and a foam finger in largely the same place.

Snider made the initial allegations on June 16. He also added that, after looking back through Rodriguez’s social media, he found another painting, published on June 1, that was similar to a work he completed featuring the interior of Madison Square Garden in October. That work was commissioned by the brand New York or Nowhere.

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A post shared by Gavin Snider (@gavindedraw)

Rodriguez has not responded to the allegations. He has since removed all posts related to the two works and has been actively deleting comments critical of him. He has also banned at least some followers for commenting or even liking comments about the allegations.

But is it actually plagiarism? Unfortunately, the answer is almost certainly yes.

Understanding the Plagiarism

On the surface, it would be easy to dismiss this as two artists basing their work on the same reference image(s). After all, as Snider himself pointed out, Madison Square Garden is one of the most iconic buildings in the world. The streetscape outside of it is very well-known, and artists have, in the past, captured the same scene.

Take, for example, the 2105 case of Sarah Scurr. She was accused of plagiarizing a photo that she had submitted to the 2009 Telegraph’s Big Picture photography competition. Chilean reporter Marisol Ortiz Elfeldt had claimed that her photo was identical to his.

And it kind of was, or at least really close. However, after an investigation, both artists were able to provide their original photos. It turns out that they had simply attended the same cruise in 2006 and captured almost nearly identical photos of the same scene at the same time.

But that isn’t what happened here. According to Snider, his work was the result of over 60 different reference images. His work was a composite of a number of different images. This is bolstered by the fact that neither Rodriguez nor anyone else has been able to find a common reference image between the two works.

The most likely explanation is that Rodriguez used just one reference image, Snider’s work. 

As for the AI allegations, that is something that is almost impossible to prove one way or the other. Rodriguez did show himself painting at least some of his version. But that doesn’t mean that AI couldn’t have been used earlier in the process or even later in the process.

To be clear, Rodriguez’s career easily predates the widespread availability of generative AI. So it’s unlikely that his career is based on AI, but that doesn’t speak much to this specific image. Still, I would be very wary of any definitive statements that this work was AI-generated in any significant way, especially when there is a much simpler explanation.

Bottom Line

In the end, what I think most likely happened is that Rodriguez used Snider’s image as a reference for his own. He then copied far too many specific elements that made it easy to track back to Snider’s work, especially since it was featured on official channels for the Knicks.

It’s the simplest and, in my mind, the most probable explanation.

That leaves two separate questions. First, why did this case become so viral?

That one is fairly obvious. Though Snider is, by all accounts, a successful artist, he is orders of magnitude less well-known on social media than Rodriguez. Rodriguez’s presence gives this case a David vs. Goliath edge to it that makes it hard not to root for Snider.

There’s also Snider’s story. About how this was a dream come true for him and that he sacrificed time from his family to make the painting. It’s a very compelling story, one that is almost made for social media.

And that leads to the second question: What is next for Rodriguez?

Rodriguez has already seemed to have moved on. While he is a very well-known and respected artist, his fame is driven by his social media presence. As brutal as social media can be at times (ask Bricks & Minifigs how they are doing), it also tends to have a quick turnaround. 

Between a long weekend and other events, it’s already fallen off the radar. Since Rodriguez deleted all of his posts, it’s likely most who follow him are unaware of the allegations. 

Simply put, people whose fame comes more from social media are more resilient to these kinds of scandals than those who rose through more traditional means. We’ve seen this with celebrities such as Benny Johnson who have survived multiple ethics scandals because of how they grew their audience.

For Rodriguez, this will likely be nothing more than a footnote. Deleting all of his posts and going radio silent may seem like a cold way to address the issue, but it’s definitely the smart way to do it if you want to move on quickly. 

Header Image: Reddit user vanwyngarden in r/mildlyinfuriating.