![Man Ripping Off His Face Man Ripping Off His Face meme and painting by Xue Jiye.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/050/945/cover5.jpg)
Man Ripping Off His Face
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About
Man Ripping Off His Face refers to the 2001 painting titled Face-Off by Chinese artist Xue Jiye, which depicts a naked man sitting on the floor tearing off his face with his hands and screaming. Online, the painting has been adopted as a reaction image, typically used to convey feelings of anguish, frustration and awkwardness.
Origin
In 2001, Chinese artist Xue Jiye painted Face-Off (originally untitled), an oil-on-canvas painting depicting a naked man sitting in a corner tearing his face off with his hands and screaming (seen below). On January 31st, 2021, Xue Jiye uploaded the painting to his official Instagram[1] account, garnering over 3,500 likes in roughly three years.
!["Face-Off" by Xue Jiye](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/882/350/524.jpg)
On September 18th, 2013, Tumblr[2] user Pixography posted the painting, with the post gaining over 2,400 likes and reblogs in 11 years.
On July 22nd, 2015, X[3] / Twitter user @nrlswirl used Face-Off, along with two other thematically similar paintings by Xue Jiye, in a caption meme, which is the earliest found use of the painting in a meme (shown below). The post gained just six retweets and 30 likes in nine years.
![My boss added me on facebook Fartniss Stinkybean @nrlswirl My boss added me on facebook 11:03 PM ⚫ Jul 22, 2015 .](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/882/351/832.jpg)
Spread
On October 8th, 2020, X[4] user @PainxPiss posted the earliest found viral meme using the picture, a How It Started / How It's Going meme that gained over 38,000 reposts and 210,000 likes in four years (shown below).
![How it started / How it’s going Rich Dragon FortySstax @PainxPiss How it started How it's going 6:23 PM Oct 8, 2020 • :](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/882/353/bb7.jpg)
On December 4th, YouTuber Shoe0nHead used the image as a reaction to videos about actor Elliot Page's transition, with the post (shown below) gaining over 5,300 reposts and 94,000 likes on X[5] in four years.
![Live Shoe0nHead Reaction 0 shoe @shoeonhead Actress Ellen Page Declares She is a well uh we did it we lost another lesbian Ellen Page Comes Out As Trans: Now Elliot 10:17 PM ⚫ Dec 4, 2020 12:11 9:17 The Left's WAR ON WOMEN & The 'New' Elliot Page LEn 262](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/882/364/dc7.jpg)
On December 20th, 2020, Redditor boobioboobs combined the image with a snippet of a Bloomberg Wealth article about tax cuts for the rich. The post gained over 290 upvotes in the /r/catsaysmao[6] subreddit in four years and was widely circulated through reposts on X[7] and Tumblr.[8]
![Fifty Years of Tax Cuts for Rich Didn't Trickle Down, Study Says](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/882/375/de8.jpg)
The image saw increased presence as a reaction and a caption format in 2024, with multiple posts based on it going viral on X / Twitter.
Various Examples
![My Hair Isn't Perfect My hair isn't perfect](https://a.kym-cdn.com/assets/blank-b3f96f160b75b1b49b426754ba188fe8.gif)
![In My Happy Era in my happy era](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/882/377/02d.jpg)
![the urge to put motivational bible verses over hyper muscular furry art Marul 18 @MarulArt the urge to put motivational bible verses over hyper muscular furry art 11:15 PM - Jul 23, 2024 13.9K Views](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/882/391/ac6.jpg)
![how it feels to hyperfixate over a piece of media that has no new content and has a dead fandom bree @yummybeefcakee how it feels to hyperfixate over a piece of media that has no new content and has a dead fandom 9:29 AM Jul 10, 2024 18K Views](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/882/390/049.jpg)
![How it feels to have a cool idea in your head but your artistic skills are dogshit 80 LTYE @LTYE02 How it feels to have a cool idea in your head but your artistic skills are dogshit 12:31 PM Jul 8, 2024 3.7M Views](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/882/389/5d6.jpg)
![RGB Version](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/882/387/e02.gif)
Template
!["Face-Off" by Xue Jiye](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/882/350/524.jpg)
Search Interest
External References
[2] Tumblr – pixography
[4] X – @PainxPiss
[5] X – @shoe0nhead
[6] Reddit – Oh really?
[7] X – @SocDoneLeft
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