Recent art that you disliked

[brianvds]

Hopefully, the very notion of this thread will not step on any toes or cause offense; my intention here is light-hearted, not serious discussion or angry debate. But when I saw these, I just had to do something about it:

For heaven's sake, Mr. Sheeran. One Jackson Pollock is already quite enough, thank you.

 

[Marc]

'America'. By Maurizio Cattelan 2016.

 

[brianvds]

I clicked the "like" button and then wondered whether we don't actually need a "dislike" button then...

 

[Hermes2020]

I must admit that I actually like it, not in the sense of wanting it in my art collection, but as a potent piece of political statement art. I have been wondering where the protest art against the current state of affairs is, like some of the pop music and visual arts of the Vietnam War and Civil Rights eras.

 

[stlukesguild]

I’ve wondered the same, Hermes. There were endless examples of pop music that addressed the socio-political issues of the day in the 1960s. In the 1950s there were films and TV shows that confronted such issues.

 

[Marc]

'America' was stolen and broken up never to be recovered. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the artist considers this event to be now part of the artwork.

Banana taped to the wall was another of his pieces.

 

[Marc]

Sheeren's Pollocks had me a bit confused. They seem professional, (real?) but poorer versions of his best work. Turns out they're by Ed Sheeren himself.

 

[Mississippi Hippie]

I got a free book for buying a few and the art in it is very uninspiring and basic. At least it was free. I like to think subjectively about art, but man was it bad.

 

[Jade]

Sheeren's Pollocks had me a bit confused. They seem professional, (real?) but poorer versions of his best work. Turns out they're by Ed Sheeren himself.

Crikey.. Mr Sheeran can turn his hands to anything!

 

[Artyczar]

I got a free book for buying a few and the art in it is very uninspiring and basic. At least it was free. I like to think subjectively about art, but man was it bad.

Great to see you back, Mississippi Hippie!

 

[Artyczar]

I'm definitely not a fan of Pollock or Sheeran.

 

[stlukesguild]

I had very little use for almost any abstraction during my years in art school (although I loved Joseph Cornell and Paul Klee). It wasn’t until I saw Pollack’s work in person… good examples of his work… that I came to appreciate them… if not love them.

 

[stlukesguild]

I entered “shitty art” and “crappy art” into Google and was quite disappointed. Most of the work wasn’t horrible. Amateurish… the work of children or outsider artists… but often with some degree of charm. While I was in art school (reminiscing again?) one of the professors gave a lecture entitled something like “On Bad Art, or Why Not to Buy that Painting of Jesus/Elvis on Black Velvet from the Rear of a Van at the Marathon Station”. He put together a presentation of some truly horrific/comic works of art. One work I especially remember was a guitar. The teen who owned the guitar mentioned to his father that he was getting blisters on his fingers from playing it. His father, who was an upholsterer “helped” the boy out by upholstering the entire guitar… including the fretboard. The result was hilarious… and completely useless.

 

[Hermes2020]

If you look at a Turner from a distance of 10cm, it looks like an Abstract Expressionist painting.

 

[Artyczar]

I think I've only seen one Pollock in person at MOCA...I think. And if there was one at MOMA, I guess I missed it. Maybe I need to see more of them to appreciate them. I wouldn't be closed off to it.

 

[stlukesguild]

The three finest Pollack paintings that I have seen IRL include:

Autumn Rhythm in the Met…

Lavender Mist in the National Gallery, Washington…

… and One in MoMA NYC.

All three struck me as far more “open” and airy than works by his imitators. They also had an elegance and a sense of motion… like you could feel the dancing movements from which they were created and clearly illustrated the term “Action Painting”.

 

[stlukesguild]

OK… here’s one. I usually like Marc Chagall’s paintings… but this one is god-awful.

 

[stlukesguild]

OK… here’s another artwork I dislike: Paul McCarthy’s giant green “butt plug” placed outside the Louvre.