I've seen this in practice, albeit in reverse. I was on a work trip a while back and they had an excursion to a local art museum. The lower floors were historical and traditional art. Lot of landscapes portraits, beautiful stuff. The upper gallery was a modern exhibition. In the middle of it was some grey, grotesque painting, prominently featured. One of the women asked "what's the deal with that one" and the dude next to her said "probably something about the Holocaust"...and it was. It was so banal, ugly, and meaningless, but given supreme reverence by the "curators".