Love and hate seem to be the polarized opinions of art lovers at the Orange County Museum of Art this week in response to the temporary installation of Richard Jackson‘s sculpture entitled, “Bad Dog.”

The fact that this larger than life sculpture is getting a lot of media buzz is no big surprise. When a two story dog reliefs himself on the side of a building, one’s bound to notice.

According to the artinfo.com, the museum plaque about the installation reads, “[T]he guileless dog unwittingly points to the sometimes rigid institutional constraints that can frustrate artists and audiences alike.” It nudges you to wonder if it’s the dog that’s bad, or the museum?

Although the current media buzz describes this piece as smart and funny, some are downright insulted by the tasteless nature of the sculpture. While controversies in art tend to spur media buzz, one wonders if some artists intentionally create controversial artwork in order to benefit from the resulting hype.

Bad Dog is part of OCMA’s current exhibit, Richard Jackson: Ain’t Painting a Pain. According to the museum’s website, “the exhibit is the first retrospective devoted to one of the most radical artists of the last 40 years. Based in Los Angeles since the early 1970s, Jackson has expanded the definition and practice of painting more than any other contemporary figure. His wildly inventive, exuberant, and irreverent take on “action” painting has dramatically extended its performative dimensions, merged it with sculpture, and repositioned it as an art of everyday experience.”

The museum’s website continues, “Presented as a series of room-size installations—site-specific wall paintings, painted environments, monumental stacked canvases, and anthropomorphic painting “machines”—Ain’t Painting a Pain presents major works never before seen in the United States, including a sculpture that was conceived early in his career but never built and a major new work to be completed in 2012. Richard Jackson: Ain’t Painting a Pain will travel to Villa Museum Stûck in Münich and two additional European museums.”

I wonder what the rest of the world will think of Bad Dog? And what do you think? Share with us here on WallSpin.

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