Ugly

Unsightly; displeasing to the eye; repulsive or offensive; hideous; objectionable. Bad. The opposite of beautiful. Mediocrity in any form can be ugly, but so can pornography, vandalism, and the results of other unappealing or criminal behaviors; just as poor qualitiy painting, sculpture, architecture, fashion and other products of art and design can be ugly. Ultimately, just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, ugliness is too. Aesthetic values (tastes) vary both within and between cultures. What affects the rise or fall of any peoples' assessments of various styles or individual works may come from many sorts of influences. Any people's distaste for imagery that offends ethical or moral standards may be less likely to change over time, but it too can change.Although the most popularly embraced art is beautiful, and choosing to produce art that is ugly is counter-intuitive, artists have sometimes chosen to produce ugliness. Artists have often portrayed unsettling subjects in order to disturb the viewer, frequently to move the viewer to pay attention to social ills. Examples of intentionally produced images of uncharitable behaviors among ordinary people, and corruption among political, business or military officials can be found among cartoons and Expressionism.Quotes: "All profound original art looks ugly at first." Clement Greenberg (1909-1994), American art critic. "The yuck factor is selling everything from snack foods to first-aid products. The targets are consumers 5 to 15, a group who spend more than $25 billion a year on toys, clothing, snacks, music and other items according to studies by Find/SVP, a market research company in Manhattan." Dana Canaday (contemporary), American journalist. "Pitching to Kids? Try Grossing Them Out," New York Times, Monday, February 16, 1998. Other resources concerned with ugliness: Yucky -- a site for kids that celebrates slime, earwax, belching, tapeworms, and other really gross stuff. Also see anti-art, bad art, deformalism, fashion, kitsch, miserable failure, obscene, pain, theory, transgressive art, and vulgar.