Dedham Community Theatre

Museum of Bad Art

16 October 2011

Here in the UK there’s the Museum of Everything, down in Massachusetts they’ve got the Museum of Bad Art. Some sort of similar WTF museum where anything is possible, all those things that MoMa rejects, MOBA welcomes.

VANISHING WOMAN by Hannah Hamilton
VANISHING WOMAN by Hannah Hamilton

MOBA is a Boston originally established collection of of bad art “in all its forms and in all its glory”. What started in 1993 as a basement exhibition opening with a first show in March 1994 has now become a well-known collection of the weirdest and the worst.

ON A WINDY DAY by Bob - Grandpa - Roots
ON A WINDY DAY by Bob - Grandpa - Roots

The founders felt morally compelled to explore new, more creative ways of bringing this “priceless” collection of quality bad art to a global audience. So they finally got the support from the  Dedham Community Theatre who allowed them to use their basement.

They now have a permanent gallery located just outside the men’s room in a 1927 movie theatre and from there they got a second basement… the Somerville Theater in Davis Square, and a third place… the Brookline Access Television, but this one is a top floor. All in Massachusetts.

ILL PAPA - anonymous
ILL PAPA - anonymous

The best thing of all? The whole collection is available on-line and you can visit all those portraits, landscapes, “unseen forces”, blue people and “poor traits” on their website.  And that’s not all! Because the Moba and friends have managed to publish a “Masterpieces” book and a whole array of buyable objects (postcards, mugs, prints…) for you to buy!

Truly something.

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