Wednesday night I visited the Seattle chapter of the Official Bad Art Museum of Art (OBAMA) at Cafe Racer in the U District.

First, a note about naming: Before the election, the national organization, based in Boston, went by the name Official Bad Art Museum of Art and the acronym OBAMA, which Cafe Racer dutifully applied to a sign above the doorway of its crowning room of badness, which opened a few months ago. But now, it appears that the national organization has changed its name to MOBA. When you see the sign at Cafe Racer that says “OBAMA ROOM,” just know that it has nothing to do with the president-elect.

Cafe Racer is a weird little place. While I was there I ran into cartoonists Bob Rini and Jim Woodring. They were sitting in a little corner and said they remembered when the place looked like a Mexican restaurant in Mexico, and it still has that orange-vitamin color on its walls, along with the feeling that a fight may break out. A short flight of stairs up to the bathrooms (where, in a black and white poster, Angie Dickinson sits on a scooter wearing a short skirt) leads to an area that looks like an unfinished basement, where a large flatscreen was showing football. Regulars at the bar looked slightly too young to be undangerous, and occasionally yelled about “titties!”

It is a pretty great place. Rini and Woodring told me that a few years ago they organized a gathering of young cartoonists there every Wednesday night; there was the group, sketching away.

But on to the bad art. Next to Rini and Woodring was a large pointillist Christ made of Peeps. Above them was a portrait of Hamlet that looked like Ted Danson, made by the artist Sean Hurley when he was in high school. There were the requisite clowns, kittens, dogs, skeletons, birds, Elvises, deserts, dogs playing billiards and/or cards, children in profile crying fat tears, monkey kings, and art historical ripoffs (Van Gogh’s Starry Night in yarn! Blue Boy in paint-by-numbers! Venus de Milo being defaced by squirting hot dogs!).

But a few of the bad artworks went beyond the call of duty. Some were, as Rini and Woodring put it, true abominations—pathological, nightmarish, epic. Their pick for worst worst (as opposed to best worst) is this piece, which hangs, mercifully even in this setting, behind a door. It is called Poetry by Leandra DiBuelna and is oil on unstretched canvas to the tune of 52 by 37 inches. Please note that the breasts double as eyes, the milk as a tear.

OBAMA7.jpg

OBAMA6.jpg

This one, however, wins the prize for best worst. It is heavily lacquered wood. “This is about the Tower of Babel,” my scholarly companion noted. We agreed the only thing it needs is a small clock in the upper right hand corner. Please note the tiny workers attached by wires to the couple’s lower parts. Please also note the couple’s glorious flowing hair, and please note, finally, that it is possible that these two are in this position because he is terribly, terribly well-endowed.

OBAMA3.jpg

Closeupass.jpg

This is the runner-up for best worst. It’s a little hard to make out, but can you see the wild empty look in her eyes? It’s as though she’s saying, “NEW CEREAL?!”

OBAMA1.jpg

Seattle can stand up with the worst of them.

Jen Graves (The Stranger’s former arts critic) mostly writes about things you approach with your eyeballs. But she’s also a history nerd interested in anything that needs more talking about, from male...

18 replies on “Bad Art Temple”

  5. The Peep Jesus is awe-inspiring. I suggest everyone go see it. Also, Cafe Racer is rad, and has simple, tasty food, and cheap beer. I’ve never been disappointed there.

  6. I’ve never heard the MOBA referred to as anything but the MOBA, and I’ve known of it for many years. Not saying you’re lying, just saying I’m confused.

  7. wow, that breasty eye one will be haunting my dreams for a while.

    this makes me want to go to my parents house and make sure every bad painting i made in high school is destroyed, so as not to end up on display.

  9. I’ve been there on Thursday nights and that scary Satan-looking guy from Circus Contraption plays music there. Last time they had not one but TWO saw players and some guy on a real washtub bass. And with urging from the crowd, he did some sword-swallowing between songs. Incredible.

  10. At least its new and different…the times I visit down town Seattle, I am forever disappointed when I say to myself “oh, I’ll kill some hours at SAM and then see the same tired old installations again and again…”

  11. An old boyfriend of mine had a peice like the one on the lacquered wood. It just had one chick on it sitting in some sand. I hated it back then, but I think it’d be pretty awesome in the garage now.

  13. OMG! I totally know the guy that painted the runner up! His name is John Pitre. He’s a older guy, lives in Honolulu, and happens to be one of my dad’s best buddies. He made millions selling posters of his work in the 70’s and now spends most of his time flying around in tiny helicopters. Peep some of his totally awesome stuff here:

    http://www.johnpitre.com/gallery2.html

    Interesting side note, he also happens to be the inventor of this bad boy (link below), pin-up in most every in-flight magazine you’ve ever read.

    http://www.fastexercise.com/

  14. Damn! I got too excited when I was reading the post and mistook Jen’s pick for the “best worst” as the runner up. So my above comment actually references the winner of that coveted title, not the runner up.

    cheers.

  15. Hi, thank you for your comments regarding The Official Bad Art Museum of Art. Let me make this very clear: We would be DELIGHTED to accept your bad paintings, either on loan or as a donation to our permanent installation. This is a curated exhibit and not every painting is bad enough to hang at OBAMA, but we’ve not turned anything down yet. MOBA in Boston will not accept kitsch, black velvet, paint-by-numbers or kitties with big eyes. But here at OBAMA, please feel free to bring us your tired, your worn, your bad black velvet and paint-by-number canvas, and relax in the comfort that it has been given a good home at Cafe Racer.

    After all, bad art is in the eye of the beer-holder.

Comments are closed.