Ugly art - is there such a thing :) ?

Question

Why, or why not, in your opinion?

Thank you for the ideas! :)

Have a wonderful week ahead! :)

Answer 1

Nope.

That's the great thing about art.  To someone, it is beautiful  and in their eyes, nothing could be better.

A friend of mine was working on her Masters Degree in an art program.  After three failed attempts to create something beautiful and unique and not coming up with anything she felt was good enough, she just squeezed an entire tube of paint onto a plate into a pile and let it dry into a blob.  She wrote up the paper for her blob, aced the assignment and still has it to this day.  That's art.

Answer 2

Excellent art should evoke emotion. To me, Picasso's works are ugly and therefore set off strong enough emotion for me to at least discuss them. I would rather someone said something negative about my work, than nothing at all. Anyone can produce blah! artwork, after all!

You know those questions we ask occasionally, If I could be one person for a day? I would have loved to be in the mind of Picasso for a few days.

Answer 3

Yes... there is definitely ugly art... the best art inspires strong feelings...

Answer 4

YES! And bad art......and things that are mistakenly called art, that are not art at all.  IMHO. ;)

Answer 5

"Ugly" or "bad"?

I think it is a matter of intent by the artist. Ugly can also be provocative. And if there's one thing that artists love to do is provoke......

Answer 6

We need ugliness/badness/evil in life to throw beauty/goodness into relief. Art isn't always about making an image, it can also be about making a statement and sometimes that can be perceived to be ugly. If you maybe read Umberto Eco - 0n Ugliness that would explain it better than I can.

Answer 7

I went to art school.  Trust me, there is such a thing as ugly art.  I generated tons of it myself.

Of course, there's "beautiful ugly," "ironic ugly," and just plain "ugly ugly"...and you can go on subdividing new categories.

I'm a big Francis Bacon fan - he's one of your classic "beautiful ugly" artists.

Answer 8

I would say no. If it is ugly, it is not art. It's a mess.

Answer 9

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder so they say.

Art has many other roles than just pleasing the eye, as pointed out earlier.

It is often used to sock with the desire to create change.

Anyway here is an example.

WARNING this may be classed as art but it is not for everyone.

http://danm.ucsc.edu/web/lbonk203minicou...

Answer 10

Look up Polk

Says it all

Answer 11

I am an artist.

Art is a not only a matter of taste, it is a matter of emotion. If art causes any sort of emotion, by definition, it is art...

"Ugly art" isn't necessarily "bad art" and visa versa. that being said, art that is simply put together to shock and or titillate the senses, in my opinion, is not art.

The worst case of this phenomenon I have seen is the "artist" whose idea of placing raw meat onto a woman's mannequin for the purpose of "shock and awe" (women are viewed as raw meat by men) was definitely sexism at it's worst.

there are others - simply placing a child's chair in a circle on the floor.... having an elephant toss paint at a canvas using a jet engine to propel the splatter .... those I question

But for the most part - any art that is produced from the prospective of the artist by his/her emotion and perspective - is art.

:)

Answer 12

There is indeed ugly art, produced by ugly emotions.  That pretty much sums up most of the art I create.

Answer 13

Sometimes there is but what is ugly to one may be beautiful to another . It kind of depends on what speaks to you i keep some ugly around to make beauty that much more beautiful .

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 14

There is a wonderful quote (I forget who) on abstract art.  

"Abstract art?  Painted by the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered."

Answer 15

Yes there is ugly art.  Beauty is such an individual concept. But it makes us think...and wonder...and appreciate.

Answer 16

Yes.  Art should touch us emotionally, help us to see something about ourselves and the world we live in, and much else, for which some artists incline to use ugliness.   Personally, being a tricky fellow, I prefer art that lures engagement by being attractive, and contains a revealing hook.   So I see open ugliness in art as naivety. Boring.  But to each his/her own.

Answer 17

hmm I guess beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. :D