Museum of Bad Art: Too bad to be ignored
By Matilda Battersby
Coffee Break (Woman with muffin)
By William Niewiarowski, February, 1978 30"x14", oil on canvas, purchased at M. Frank at Brimfield Antique Fair, May, 2010
Looking totally relaxed as she strikes a classic pose, a woman with neatly trimmed hair wears only high heel slides that accentuate her slender ankles. The foreshortening on her right arm, the one holding the muffin, is something to be reckoned with.
Most of us are familiar with artworks, proudly presented, which look like they’ve been produced by a four-year-old at playgroup. But now rather than simply congratulating your friend/relative on their talentlessness you can suggest they make a contribution to Museum of Bad Art (MOBA), an institution which only takes art so bad it can’t be ignored.
With 600 pieces in its permanent collection MOBA prides itself on being “the finest bad art establishment in the world”. Located in Massachusetts, USA in an old basement (“conveniently beside the toilets”) of the Dedham Community Theatre, it has attracted some priceless contributions with little or no funding.
The brainchild of a group which includes Michael Frank, currently the curator-in-chief who has a sideline as a musician and children’s entertainer (“with enviable balloon-twisting skills”), and Louise Reilly Sacco, a founding member and the Permanent Acting Interim Executive Director, MOBA has been going since they discovered a picture so bad they felt compelled to exhibit it back in 1993.
With the help of another founding member, Marie Jackson, MOBA’s Director of Aesthetic Interpretation (“who refuses to be restrained by a lack of formal artistic training or her inability to distinguish one end of a computer keyboard from another”), and a one time Playboy photographer Tom Stankowicz, MOBA has published a book to accompany its online and physical exhibitions, also titled Museum of Bad Art: Art Too Bad to Be Ignored.
MOBA has kindly granted Independent.co.uk access to pictures from its archive, with accompanying razor sharp critical analysis.
The Milkmaid
Illegible, 12"x16", oil on canvas, purchased by Mike Frank at a Boston thrift shop March, 2011
Apparently fond of the domestic worker in Vermeer's painting (De Melkmeid, c. 1658-1661), the artist chose to brighten her austere work environment with a lovely bouquet of flowers.
Mana Lisa
By A. Schmidt, Vancouver, Canada, 12"x16", oil on canvas donated by the artist MOBA #370
A trans-gender interpretation of the da Vinci classic. Mana Lisa's nose strikes nimbly, offsetting the dialogue between the foreground and profoundly varnished background. Further, by deciphering this work's title, perhaps we can contribute to the growing body of Leonardo's anagrammatic discourse: MAN ALIAS, I AM NASAL, A SAIL MAN, AS ANIMAL, AM A SNAIL, MAIL NASA...the list goes on.
Dissent from the Pedestal
By Robert MacLeod, 30" x 36", oil on canvas, anonymous donation MOBA #411
Infuriated and distraught about the state of the world, the iconic Lady of the Harbour has come down from her traditional perch, bemoaning the fact that, despite global warming, her day in the sun seems to have passed.
The Independent
Coffee Break (Woman with muffin)
By William Niewiarowski, February, 1978 30"x14", oil on canvas, purchased at M. Frank at Brimfield Antique Fair, May, 2010
Looking totally relaxed as she strikes a classic pose, a woman with neatly trimmed hair wears only high heel slides that accentuate her slender ankles. The foreshortening on her right arm, the one holding the muffin, is something to be reckoned with.
Most of us are familiar with artworks, proudly presented, which look like they’ve been produced by a four-year-old at playgroup. But now rather than simply congratulating your friend/relative on their talentlessness you can suggest they make a contribution to Museum of Bad Art (MOBA), an institution which only takes art so bad it can’t be ignored.
With 600 pieces in its permanent collection MOBA prides itself on being “the finest bad art establishment in the world”. Located in Massachusetts, USA in an old basement (“conveniently beside the toilets”) of the Dedham Community Theatre, it has attracted some priceless contributions with little or no funding.
The brainchild of a group which includes Michael Frank, currently the curator-in-chief who has a sideline as a musician and children’s entertainer (“with enviable balloon-twisting skills”), and Louise Reilly Sacco, a founding member and the Permanent Acting Interim Executive Director, MOBA has been going since they discovered a picture so bad they felt compelled to exhibit it back in 1993.
With the help of another founding member, Marie Jackson, MOBA’s Director of Aesthetic Interpretation (“who refuses to be restrained by a lack of formal artistic training or her inability to distinguish one end of a computer keyboard from another”), and a one time Playboy photographer Tom Stankowicz, MOBA has published a book to accompany its online and physical exhibitions, also titled Museum of Bad Art: Art Too Bad to Be Ignored.
MOBA has kindly granted Independent.co.uk access to pictures from its archive, with accompanying razor sharp critical analysis.
The Milkmaid
Illegible, 12"x16", oil on canvas, purchased by Mike Frank at a Boston thrift shop March, 2011
Apparently fond of the domestic worker in Vermeer's painting (De Melkmeid, c. 1658-1661), the artist chose to brighten her austere work environment with a lovely bouquet of flowers.
Mana Lisa
By A. Schmidt, Vancouver, Canada, 12"x16", oil on canvas donated by the artist MOBA #370
A trans-gender interpretation of the da Vinci classic. Mana Lisa's nose strikes nimbly, offsetting the dialogue between the foreground and profoundly varnished background. Further, by deciphering this work's title, perhaps we can contribute to the growing body of Leonardo's anagrammatic discourse: MAN ALIAS, I AM NASAL, A SAIL MAN, AS ANIMAL, AM A SNAIL, MAIL NASA...the list goes on.
Dissent from the Pedestal
By Robert MacLeod, 30" x 36", oil on canvas, anonymous donation MOBA #411
Infuriated and distraught about the state of the world, the iconic Lady of the Harbour has come down from her traditional perch, bemoaning the fact that, despite global warming, her day in the sun seems to have passed.
The Independent
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