Perhaps developed in reaction to accusations of crass commercialism overrunning art fairs, it is a sophisticated form of branding.
Dragon magazine's reviewers found the cover ugly, and according to Computer Gaming World, a Canadian wholesaler refused to sell Axe of Rage because it considered the game's box cover art crass enough to offend customers.
As the bearded, beaming Turrell disarmingly observed at the unveiling when asked if it was not too crass to call his art psychedelic: "It's actually much better on drugs".
Art, like real estate, has been enjoying a long and durable speculative boom, attracting, as it did a century ago, in the days of Duveen, the obsessive and competitive attentions of an expanding class of people who are very, very rich and who, for reasons ranging from the noble to the crass, have chosen visual art as an instrument for their aspirations.
Gee Vaucher did all the art for Crass, but she is good on her own merits as a drawer, illustrator, painter, and collagist. .
The crass philistinism that sees Renaissance art as toffs' culture is inclined to side unthinkingly with closing down rooms and rooms of great paintings.
Probably the most direct – or crass – display at last week's Art Basel Hong Kong fair was an array of Andy Warhol dollar signs, conveniently sited right by the entrance to the VIP lounge.
The artfulness of Nat Tate was to keep clear of crass condemnation and, instead, beat modern art at its own game.
His persona in his art is far more crass than he is, but friends sometimes have to protect him from letting too much anger show through.
The shop was also part of the retrospective when it appeared in Los Angeles, and some criticized the marriage of art and commerce as crass and inappropriate in a museum setting.
