Your work sucks. But congratulations! You get a pass to the bad-art exhibition after defeating other artworks that are way better than yours.

The curator of the exhibition, Cao Xun, said that the idea for a bad-art exhibition originated from weariness.

"The past few years saw so much high-end art pouring into the city. Last year I visited some 70 museums and art galleries, and attended over a hundred exhibitions and eight master exhibitions. There were so many that I felt nauseated. It was information overload, and I got aesthetic fatigue. It was as if nothing else in fine art was able to resonate or elicit an impulse anymore. So this year, why don't we try the opposite approach and showcase things that are really nasty and terrible?" Cao said.

Although it's named the bad-art exhibition, Cao said the selection process is stricter than curating good art. "Ninety-eight percent of the work was eliminated because they are not bad enough," Cao said.

The selected work are the lucky dogs that fit certain criteria: originality; earnest work, not mere scribbles; and being strikingly bad and thought-provoking.

After rounds of strict selection, only 70 works were crowned as the worst art. Come and meet some of these eccentric works and the artists behind them.

Some 70 works are showcased at the new bad-art exhibition in Shanghai. Photos: Qi Xijia/GT

Toilet graffiti

In 1917, Marcel Duchamp submitted a porcelain toilet titled Fountain for exhibition with the Society of Independent Artists. Nearly a century later, an artist named Xi Hua presents squat toilets (pictured below), along with a door filled with graffiti.

Its creator Xi said he was struck by an image of a painted toilet door that he found on the Internet and thought of applying the graffiti to it.

Like many users of public toilets, he is shocked by the terrible environment and smell in these stalls, and in particular the daring, coarse graffiti he finds on their doors' interior.

"It contains everything from illegal posts, images of genitals and words filled with sexual allusion. Since it's like a closet, no one knows who did it. It's also when your true ego is revealed," Xi said.

Though Xi said the toilet-scrawling culture is vulgar and indecent to him, he noted that it's a microcosm of this complicated, textured big world.

"An American toilet expert found, after collecting and analyzing hundreds of graffiti in WCs, that the ones in men's lavatories are more progressive, erotic and violent, while those in women's lavatories are more optimistic and motivating. I think it is probably the same here in China," Xi said.

Xi said he has examined nearly 60 public toilets - for men, of course - though he still has one regret. "I haven't had the chance to use the toilet in the air. Every time I'm traveling by plane, I was just well-prepared."

Beauty versus ugliness

If you still can't work out the mystery of Mona Lisa's smile, you may find that struggling answer in Bi Yuanwai's work, The Giggle of Mona Lisa (above).

"There has been much discussion and interpretation about her identity and smile: whether she's sneering or laughing or mocking. I don't make a fuss about it. To me, it's just a foolish giggle. It's too tiresome to keep guessing," Bi said.

Her Mona Lisa is sketched out with a few childish strokes, celebrating crossed eyes, a square face and a sluggish expression.

Since her experiment with Mona Lisa, one by one other world-famous paintings fell victim to her hands. The exhibition showcases five of them that she drew in a row.

"It took me two hours to create these world-famous paintings, and I have treated myself with a plate of watermelon in between," Bi said.

Bi said she was shocked to be invited as part of this exhibition. "It never came across to me that such an exhibition exists. When it opens, I won't believe that we did it. It seems to me that everything depends upon men's efforts."

Born in 1994 and having grown up in an age where seemingly everyone is a Photoshop master, Qu Zijun was shocked to see his friends' faces without filters upon meeting them in person.

The disconnect between the real people and their glamorized portraits inspired Qu to restore the truth using his brushes.

Qu's portraits are based on people he knows in real life, and he said he tried his best to make them ugly. "I was just trying to reveal their nature," Qu said.

He began with his close friends, and he said they seemed to have no problem with it at all. "They are happy to see it and embrace this form," Qu said.

He added that he was happy to be part of the bad-art show.

"Paintings shouldn't be simply regarded as a camera. There ought to be more profound thoughts devoted to this exhibition," Qu said.

Date: Until September 15, 11 am to 9 pm

Venue: 1/F, 1788 Square

Address: 1788 Nanjing Road West

南京西路1788号

Admission: 70 yuan ($10.51)