Brit Artists Stage National Art Hate Week

Despite being utterly idiotic, I thought this impotent idea deserves a little mention (mostly for a good end of the week laugh).

ArtInfo and London’s Guardian report on Brit artist Billy Childish’s launch of "Art Hate Week" in London. Here is the short report:

LONDON—This past Monday saw the launch of National Art Hate Week in England, the brainchild of painter Billy Childish and two collaborators. The idea, he says, is to give the U.K.'s art institutions "a necessary kicking" by calling for the public to stage a silent revolt and visit a local gallery, take a closer, more honest look at what’s being shown, and then actively hate it.

Childish, the self-proclaimed hero of the British art resistance movement, is joined in his campaign by Steve Lowe, "chief engineer" of the L-13 Light Industrial Workshop gallery, and Jimmy Cauty, former half of art agitators the KLF. They believe the idea of a week of sustained loathing for gallery exhibits will liberate the public and shatter the common consensus on such major-name figures as Andy Warhol, Peter Doig, and Pablo Picasso. Participants are encouraged to be honest about work they find boring and hateful, especially if curators consider it stimulating and interesting. On Wednesday the trio staged a silent protest on the steps of London's Tate Modern, handing out posters to passersby. The campaign considers the Tate as well as the National Gallery "vacuous factories of business and bureaucracy," according to the Guardian.

Read more at the Guardian.

Some might say this is actually a daily occurrence here in the US. Isn’t the general public expressing their hate of art by never stepping foot in an art gallery?