Art bollocks

Art bollocks is a term used for the deliberately orotund, over-flowery, mystifying or obscure jargon used to promote sales of art works, or to highlight publically-exhibited art, typically found in brochures.
History
While art bollocks has flourished as a part of the art market since the 1960s, the term describing it was first coined in 1999 by Brian Ashbee in an Art Review article, "A Beginner’s Guide to Art Bollocks and How to Be a Critic".
Pejorative sense
"Art bollocks" links to the pejorative contexts of the English slang word "Bollocks", where the relevant text is perceived as near-nonsensical comments about a work of art. Ironically "bollocks" can also be rendered in cockney rhyming slang as "Jackson Pollocks", a famous American artist.
Function
A prospective buyer of art can be lured by art bollocks into thinking that a work of art represents much more than it appears to be. While aimed at novice buyers, and perhaps hoping to awe and intimidate them into buying an artwork, art dealers and exhibition curators use art bollocks to portray themselves as knowledgeable about the work in question, its important place in the world and therefore its value. Art bollocks is, however, never needed by mainstream art critics to describe works by masters such as Jack Yeats, Rembrandt or Magritte, and so its use to promote relatively unknown artists naturally raises questions about its veracity.
In turn, new art school graduates have increased markedly since the 1980s in Europe and America, leading to an oversupply of art and consequently a greater demand for art bollocks to rationalize their oeuvre.
Art dealers counter that they have to do their best to sell a work of art at the highest price they can get, and that explaining the inexplicable value and meaning of art can require terms that goes beyond the uses of everyday language. Every other profession has its own specialist terms that can appear meaningless to those working outside it.
Critique
Art bollocks has become to some extent an art form in itself, and has been described as "beyond parody". It has been generated by computer program.
Deconstructionism
Following the vogue for Deconstructionism that arose from the 1960s, many experimental and "deconstructed" artworks were best described in the language of deconstructivist philosophers. This gave these artworks an extra interest to those who understood this often contorted language, or who were at least impressed by its claim to a deeper knowledge and understanding of the world.
Synonyms
* "Artspeak" (linking to Newspeak)
* "Art Bollox"

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