artspeak

• art speak

From art +‎ -speak.

artspeak (uncountable)

1. (often derogatory) The specialist vocabulary and language associated with art and artists, especially when seen as complicated or pretentious.
   • 1987 February 4, William E. Geist, “The Art of Artspeak: Be Sophisticated”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Mr. Quinn […] was uptown exploring the new $26 million, 40,000 square foot museum addition because he takes students to museums as part of a course he teaches in New York on what to say about paintings—artspeak.

   • 2010 February 5, Jon Canter, “Artspeak? It's complicated”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     Complication is what artspeak is all about. It seeks to confer status and worth on an artist's work by insisting on its obscurity, which it conveys through a grey porridge of abstract nouns.

   • 2015 November 13, Alex Williams, “Scott Campbell Turns Blind Trust Into Tattoos”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN:

     On the other side of the wall, the affable Mr. Campbell, dressed in jeans and a camouflage baseball cap, attempted to assess the tattoo he chose for Mr. Gachot in the language of artspeak. “With skulls, there’s so much symbolism and power,” he said.

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