Art Bollocks is the title of an article written by Brian Ashbee, appearing in Art Review in April 1999.[1] In it Ashbee points out the enhanced significance accorded language, referred to as "theoretical discourse", as a counterpart of especially "post-modern" art.[1] The post-modern art forms referred-to are "installation art, photography, conceptual art, video..." The question is asked why these forms are as dependent as they are on theoretical discourse.[1]
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According to David Thompson, writing in his blog "TypePad" in 2006, the term "art bollocks" was first introduced into serious art writing by Brian Ashbee in 1999 in an essay published in "Art Review." Ashbee's essay was given the title, "A Beginners Guide to Art Bollocks and How to be a Critic."[2]
While art bollocks has flourished as a part of the art market since the 1960s, the term describing it was first coined in 1999 by Brian Ashbee in an Art Review article, "A Beginner’s Guide to Art Bollocks and How to Be a Critic".[3]
"Art bollocks" links to the pejorative contexts of the British English slang word "bollocks", where the relevant text is perceived as near-nonsensical comments about a work of art.
A prospective buyer of art can be lured by art bollocks into thinking that a work of art represents much more than it appears to be. While aimed at novice buyers, and perhaps hoping to awe and intimidate them into buying an artwork, art dealers and exhibition curators use art bollocks to portray themselves as knowledgeable about the work in question, its important place in the world and therefore its value. Art bollocks is, however, never needed by mainstream art critics to describe works by masters such as Jack Yeats, Rembrandt or Magritte, and so its use to promote relatively unknown artists naturally raises questions about its veracity.
In turn, new art school graduates have increased markedly since the 1980s in Europe and America, leading to an oversupply of art and consequently a greater demand for art bollocks to rationalize their oeuvre.
Art dealers counter that they have to do their best to sell a work of art at the highest price they can get, and that explaining the inexplicable value and meaning of art can require terms that goes beyond the uses of everyday language. Every other profession has its own specialist terms that can appear meaningless to those working outside it.
Art bollocks has become to some extent an art form in itself, and has been described as "beyond parody". It has been generated by computer program.[4]
Following the vogue for Deconstructionism that arose from the 1960s, many experimental and "deconstructed" artworks were best described in the language of deconstructivist philosophers. This gave these artworks an extra interest to those who understood this often contorted language, or who were at least impressed by its claim to a deeper knowledge and understanding of the world.