Gallery Gaslighting

Museum labels frustrate me. 

Instead of learning something new, I feel like I’m being talked down to. 

Surely I should know what “Neo Dada” refers to. In what world does anyone not know that “egg tempera” is a technique where egg yolks and paint are mixed together?   

But I’ve noticed something I had so far failed to see. Beyond the veneer of self-importance, gallery text suffers from something much more ordinary: bad writing. 

Here are a few examples of museum curators violating three sacred writing commandments. 

Thou shalt write like you speak

Here’s how a gallery I visited recently described the work of American painter Jasper Johns:    

“In the early 1960s, Jasper Johns embarked on a new type of large-scale painting that was both synthetic and generative”. 

Huh?

I don’t know about you but I have no idea what “synthetic” and “generative” refer to. The only bit of information I gained is that the curator knows something I don’t. 

Also, did Jasper Johns wake up one day thinking “Today is the day I start doing synthetic and generative work”? I don’t think so. 

The curators should have taken inspiration from George Orwell’s fifth rule of writing: 

“Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.” 

Thou shalt resist the urge to hedge 

The label next to Edward Hopper’s “A Woman in the Sun” described it as “almost cinematic”. I felt a strong urge to grab a marker and cross out the word “almost”. 

Words like “almost”, “possibly” or “usually” give the author a sense of security. But the reader walks away with a half-baked perspective. 

As William Zinsser puts it:  

“Don’t say you were a bit confused and sort of tired and a little depressed and somewhat annoyed. Be confused. Be tired. Be depressed. Be annoyed. Don’t hedge your prose with little timidities. Good writing is lean and confident.”

Thou shalt show, not tell 

Edward Hopper once said “If you could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint”. 

It’s ironic that museum labels systematically try to interpret the paintings for us with words. But in doing so they fall into the trap of using generic epithets instead of drawing us in with vivid descriptions. 

Georgia O’Keeffe - Summer Days

Take this line describing Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Summer Days”: 

“The large scale of the bones and blossoms and their placement in the sky give the painting a surreal quality.”

George Tooker - The Subway

Now compare this to a description of George Tooker’s “The Subway”: 

“Whether closed off in tiled niches or walking down the long passageway, each androgynous, anxiety-ridden figure appears psychologically estranged, despite being physically close to others in the station. The central group of commuters is locked in a grid of the metal grating’s cast shadows, while the labyrinthine passages seem to lead nowhere, suspending the city’s inhabitants in a modern purgatory.”

Which description drew you in the most? 

Bad writing in gallery text is a good reminder of its gaslighting effect. Remember that next time you read something and feel clueless and confused.