27 monstrous paintings from which it is impossible to take your eyes off
The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) has been operating in Massachusetts for more than 20 years, where paintings "too bad to ignore" are collected. In 1993, the antiquarian Scott Wilson found a picture among the garbage that was so terribly drawn that it fascinated him. Wilson showed it to his friends, who laughed with him and suggested that Scott collect a whole collection of the same creepy art objects. In March 1994, Jerry Reilly and his wife Maria Jackson hosted a reception at the house — the "Opening of the Museum of Bad Art".
The founders of the museum say that they do not ridicule the authors of the works, but respect their sincere efforts:
One of the museum's founders, Jerry Reilly, said in 1995: "Every city in the world has at least one museum dedicated to the best works of art. MOBA is the only museum dedicated to collecting and exhibiting the worst."
Although the museum's motto is "Art is too bad to be ignored," paintings are strictly selected before entering the collection. According to Maria Jackson, nine-tenths of his works will not pass, because they are not bad enough. To get into the collection, the works must be original and created with serious intentions, and not for a joke and not for the sake of getting into the museum exposition. Curators don't need intentional kitsch. At the same time, the paintings must have significant drawbacks and cannot be boring. Also, the museum does not collect art objects created by children, at a factory or specifically for tourists.
In the first days of the museum's work, several unusual exhibitions took place in it: in one case, the works were hung on trees in the forest, in another — they were covered with a heat-shrinkable moisture-proof film. So it was possible to observe the work "from the car and the car wash". In 2001, the exhibition "Naked Bucks — nothing but Nude" was held: nude portraits from the museum's collection were exhibited in local spas.
The very picture with which the history of the museum began and to which the attention of the media and patrons is still riveted. She found the name right away: This is an allusion to The Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". One of the magazine critics describes her as follows: "An elderly woman dancing in a lush field in spring, whose sagging breasts are freely flapping; she inexplicably leans with one hand on a red chair on which she is sitting, and in the other holds a bouquet of daisies." Another characteristic is simpler and more direct — "an old woman with a chair glued to her ass." "Lucy" was written with a real-life woman, Anna Lally Keen (years of life - 1890-1968). When her granddaughter, Boston nurse Susan Lawlor, saw the portrait in the newspaper and recognized her grandmother in it, then from Shoka snorted Coca-Cola out of her nose. The painting hung in her aunt's house for many years, although relatives, and Susan herself, did not like the portrait: "The face is definitely hers, but everything else is terrible. It seems that she has only one breast, and it's unclear what's wrong with her arms and legs, and these flowers, and this yellow sky..."
The Boston Globe journalist Bella English called this picture a work that "will absolutely make you laugh." Artist Amy Levine saw in it a parody of Georges Seurat's painting "Sunday Afternoon on the island of Grand Jatt": it is also known as "Sunday in the Park with George". The subject of this painting was allegedly John Ashcroft, the former US Attorney General. This work cannot be called technically bad, so the lack of artistic skill is not an obligatory criterion for new exhibits. Scott Wilson says that accepting a work of art in MOVA is a "celebration of the artist's enthusiasm."
In 1996 , the painting R. disappeared from the museum . Angelo Lee "Eileen". The museum promised $ 6.5 to the one who would return it, and then even increased the remuneration to $ 36.73, but the work was not returned for many years.
After the theft, fake video cameras were installed in the museum with the caption: "Attention! This gallery is protected by fake video cameras." It didn't help: in 2004, a self-portrait of Rebecca Harris was stolen. In place of the painting, a note appeared on the wall demanding a ransom of $ 10 - however, the thief forgot to enter his contact information. Soon the painting was returned along with $10. Curator Michael Frank suggested that it was difficult for the thief to keep her, because "reputable institutions refuse to negotiate with criminals."