Institute for the Preservation of Bad Art
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Often
ridiculed.

Generally
unappreciated.

Art
by people who can't.
IPBA is getting a makeover...

However...

take a look at our manifesto:
Owl


House
Poodle
Welcome to the Institute

The Institute for the Preservation of Bad Art (IPBA) intends to celebrate dreadful art in all its forms. It takes its inspiration from the Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) in Boston, Massachusetts, which was the first establishment to recognise the value of bad art and is undoubtedly the world leader in the field. IPBA does not intend to compete with MOBA; it hopes to be able to deepen awareness of artistic inability and enhance its profile. IPBA began life as an online resource, with the intention of also occupying a physical gallery. The gallery has now opened, in the cellar of a private house in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. It follows a venerable tradition of private folk art galleries, roadside America exhibitions and fantastic environments, and joins other home galleries in the UK such as the Leytonstone Centre for Contemporary Art and (at home) in Hoxton. Though not really a public space, those with an interest in awful art are welcome to visit by prior appointment. A Board of Trustees has been appointed to oversee both its virtual and physical manifestations, as well as ensure the lack of integrity of works that are displayed.

IPBA believes that truly bad art is worth being preserved. Nothing so displays the raw nerves of human endeavour than a badly executed portrait, an ill-turned pot or a wilfully crooked origami chicken. Ridiculed by the establishment, displayed by a few hardy souls in living rooms across the world and available for a song in charity shops everywhere, awful art threatens to expose the soft white underbelly of art history. It celebrates the under-achiever, extols Sunday painters above Constable, raises the amateur craftsman and DIY enthusiast above the skilled practitioner. The artistic elite is endangered by the groundswell of incapable artisans who threaten to engulf it.

Incompetent individual endeavour is more than matched by corporate artistic ineptitude. Who can forget the crude draughtsmanship, bad translations and blatant inaccuracy of the finest flatpack furniture assembly instructions? Who doesn't harbour secret affection for the colourless depictions of fruit and vegetables on mass produced kitchen tiles? Through corporate endeavour alone, bad art has touched the lives of so many of us.

IPBA will display a permanent collection of various examples of bad art, as well as exhibitions of works owned by the Institute and private collections. It will also offer hyperlinks to bad art resources, with news and reviews of sites of interest. Should you want to correspond with IPBA, please email webmaster@monoculartimes.co.uk with the subject 'IPBA'.

IPBA Khan Johnny Ostrich
 


And watch this space...