In a cultural goldmine like Boston, great works of art are so bountiful they're almost boring. Monet at the MFA, Muller at the ICA, Michelangelo at the Gardner . . . Yaaaawn. Terrible works of art are the real finds. Lucky for us, there's a local organization devoted to finding them.
Founded in 1993, the Museum of Bad Art is solely dedicated to the collection, preservation, and exhibition of really awful artwork. MOBA maintains a physical museum in the basement of the Dedham Community Theatre, next to the men's room. Because it's a small space, there's only room to show a fraction of the museum's 400-piece permanent collection at a time.
But there's ample room on the website, where MOBA displays pictures and descriptions of nearly 100 pieces, including "Lucy in the Field With Flowers" (left). And unlike great art - which must be seen in person in order to feel its full effect - the bad art at MOBA manages to inspire cringes even in its online form.
In "Sunday on the Pot With George" by Unknown, a portly man in tighty whities sits sternly atop something that looks like a melting toilet seat. "This pointillist piece is curious for meticulous attention to fine detail, such as the stitching around the edge of the towel, in contrast to the almost careless disregard for the subject's feet," reads the accompanying description.
"Mana Lisa" by Anonymous is glibly described as "a cross-gender interpretation of the da Vinci classic," although it looks like it's just a failed imitation of the original.
The site also includes directions for donating art to MOBA, noting that the curators are picky. "The pieces that we look for would never hang in a museum or commercial gallery," the site reads, "yet they have some quality that draws you to them - or perhaps grabs you by the throat and won't let go."
