Abby Jackson
Encyclopedia
Abby Jackson is a British artist, Stuckist painter, writer and art activist.
and lives and works in London
. She attended Somerset College of Art
and studied advertising. In 2002, as an act of rebellion during her last year at the college, she made a large painting Foreign Policy 2000 of President Bush
's head on top of a bare breasted dominatrix whipping Tony Blair
on all fours. The college threatened to fail her, but finally gave her a pass degree.
In 2005, Jackson joined the international Stuckism
movement founded by Billy Childish
and Charles Thomson
in 1999 to promote painting and oppose conceptual art
. She phoned Thomson "out of the blue" about a year after leaving college, where she had been told about the Stuckists in a visual culture lecture . Her work was in the Stuckist show, "Painting is the Medium of Yesterday" – Paul Myners, at La Viande gallery in Shoreditch
in September 2005.
In 2006, she supported the Design and Artists Copyright Society
(DACS) campaign for artists resale rights, taking part in a protest in Whitehall in January, and being one of the four artist representatives to present the petition to 10 Downing Street
. She criticised David Hockney
and other artists, who were opposed to the threshold being lowered to encompass emerging artists. In a letter in The Times
, she said, "A Bill like this will encourage young artists to keep going, even when they can’t afford a studio or a takeaway at the weekend. I don’t want money to go towards a lavish wedding, I need it to continue painting."
Jackson's college painting, Foreign Policy 2000, had been exhibited after her graduation in the Wellington Club
in London, where it was approved by both Arab clientele and Damien Hirst
, a friend of the club owner. It was then stored under Jackson's bed, until her admiration for Brian Haw
's Parliament Square
peace protest display motivated her in 2006 to donate it to him. Most of Haw's display, including her painting and other art work (one by Banksy
), was later removed by the Metropolitan Police
in a dawn raid.
Jackson's painting was then copied by Mark Wallinger
as part of his recreation of Haw's display; the recreation was exhibited as an installation, State Britain
, which opened in January 2007 at Tate Britain
and won the Turner Prize
later that year. Jackson commented:
In 2006 she instigated and co-curated the first show of artists from the Saatchi
Yourgallery website, Lost and Found: this took place at the Brick Lane Gallery in
East London.
Her writing has been published in The Face
, The Hospital and Ditched. In "Still Life v Real Life" in Aesthetica, she contrasted the different
responses of Stuckist artist Wolf Howard
and Luc Tuymans
to the subject of 9/11: "Tuymans chooses to avoid his subject matter, whereas Howard, as a Stuckist, approaches his subject head on."
She said of her own work:
She has had solo shows at the Adam Street Gallery and Diorama Gallery, and group shows by West Eleven Gallery, Artshole, Wimbledon Art Studios, Islington Arts Fair, Stephen Lawrence Gallery (in association with BBC Africa 05), and Peace Camp (curated by Bob and Roberta Smith
). In February 2008, she is staging a joint exhibition, called Disney Heroines Committing Suicide, with Mark D
at La Viande gallery in Shoreditch
, London.
Life and work
Abby Jackson was born in North DevonNorth Devon
North Devon is the northern part of the English county of Devon. It is also the name of a local government district in Devon. Its council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth...
and lives and works in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. She attended Somerset College of Art
Somerset College of Arts and Technology
Somerset College of Arts and Technology ' is a community college based in Taunton, in the county of Somerset, England. It was formed in 1974 after the merger of Somerset College of Art and Taunton Technical College. The college provides further and higher education courses, as well as a variety of...
and studied advertising. In 2002, as an act of rebellion during her last year at the college, she made a large painting Foreign Policy 2000 of President Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's head on top of a bare breasted dominatrix whipping Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
on all fours. The college threatened to fail her, but finally gave her a pass degree.
In 2005, Jackson joined the international Stuckism
Stuckism
Stuckism is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting in opposition to conceptual art...
movement founded by Billy Childish
Billy Childish
Billy Childish is an English artist, painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist...
and Charles Thomson
Charles Thomson (artist)
Charles Thomson is an English artist, painter, poet and photographer. In the early 1980s he was a member of The Medway Poets. In 1999 he named and co-founded the Stuckists art movement with Billy Childish. He has curated Stuckist shows, organised demonstrations against the Turner Prize, run an art...
in 1999 to promote painting and oppose conceptual art
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
. She phoned Thomson "out of the blue" about a year after leaving college, where she had been told about the Stuckists in a visual culture lecture . Her work was in the Stuckist show, "Painting is the Medium of Yesterday" – Paul Myners, at La Viande gallery in Shoreditch
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney in England. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Etymology:...
in September 2005.
In 2006, she supported the Design and Artists Copyright Society
Design and Artists Copyright Society
The Design and Artists Copyright Society is a UK not-for-profit rights management organisation that exists to collect and distribute royalties to visual artists....
(DACS) campaign for artists resale rights, taking part in a protest in Whitehall in January, and being one of the four artist representatives to present the petition to 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
. She criticised David Hockney
David Hockney
David Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
and other artists, who were opposed to the threshold being lowered to encompass emerging artists. In a letter in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, she said, "A Bill like this will encourage young artists to keep going, even when they can’t afford a studio or a takeaway at the weekend. I don’t want money to go towards a lavish wedding, I need it to continue painting."
Wellington Club
The Wellington Club is an exclusive club in Knightsbridge, London. It is located at the Knightsbridge tube stop on the Piccadilly Line, and has an entrance in an alley leading to Hyde Park. On an occasional weekend night, the paparazzi will be lurking outside to photograph stars when they leave....
in London, where it was approved by both Arab clientele and Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
, a friend of the club owner. It was then stored under Jackson's bed, until her admiration for Brian Haw
Brian Haw
Brian William Haw was an English protester and peace campaigner who lived for almost ten years in a camp in London's Parliament Square from 2001, in a protest against UK and US foreign policy...
's Parliament Square
Parliament Square
Parliament Square is a square outside the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in London. It features a large open green area in the middle, with a group of trees to its west. It contains statues of famous statesmen and is the scene of rallies and protests, as well as being a tourist...
peace protest display motivated her in 2006 to donate it to him. Most of Haw's display, including her painting and other art work (one by Banksy
Banksy
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter.His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine irreverent dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique...
), was later removed by the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
in a dawn raid.
Jackson's painting was then copied by Mark Wallinger
Mark Wallinger
Mark Wallinger is a British artist, best known for his sculpture for the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, Ecce Homo , and State Britain , a recreation at Tate Britain of Brian Haw's protest display outside parliament. He won the Turner Prize in 2007...
as part of his recreation of Haw's display; the recreation was exhibited as an installation, State Britain
State Britain
State Britain is an installation artwork by Mark Wallinger displayed in Tate Britain in January 2007. It is a recreation from scratch of a protest display about the treatment of Iraq, set up by Brian Haw outside Parliament and eventually confiscated by the police. Haw's display contained several...
, which opened in January 2007 at Tate Britain
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
and won the Turner Prize
Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
later that year. Jackson commented:
- State Britain is a true metaphor of conceptual art, as it's fake. I feel that I and the other people who contributed to Brian's display are the original artists.
In 2006 she instigated and co-curated the first show of artists from the Saatchi
Saatchi Gallery
The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art, opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985 in order to exhibit his collection to the public. It has occupied different premises, first in North London, then the South Bank by the River Thames and currently in Chelsea. Saatchi's collection, and...
Yourgallery website, Lost and Found: this took place at the Brick Lane Gallery in
East London.
The Face (magazine)
The Face was a British music, fashion and culture monthly magazine started in May 1980 by Nick Logan.-1980s:Logan had previously created the teen pop magazine Smash Hits, and had been an editor at the New Musical Express in the 1970s before launching The Face in 1980.The magazine was influential in...
, The Hospital and Ditched. In "Still Life v Real Life" in Aesthetica, she contrasted the different
responses of Stuckist artist Wolf Howard
Wolf Howard
Wolf Howard is an English artist, poet and filmmaker living in Chatham, Kent and was a founder member of the Stuckists art group...
and Luc Tuymans
Luc Tuymans
Luc Tuymans is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium. Tuymans is considered one of the most influential painters working today. His signature figurative paintings transform mediated film, television, and print sources into examinations of history and memory.-Life:Tuymans...
to the subject of 9/11: "Tuymans chooses to avoid his subject matter, whereas Howard, as a Stuckist, approaches his subject head on."
She said of her own work:
- I've taken elements from the childhood fairy tale and the contemporary fairy tale of the celebrity lifestyle, merging the two ideas into work such as Death of the Rocks, which portrays the Disney Little MermaidThe Little Mermaid (1989 film)The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of the same name. Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the film was originally released to theaters on November 14, 1989 and is the twenty-eighth film in...
slitting her wrists.
She has had solo shows at the Adam Street Gallery and Diorama Gallery, and group shows by West Eleven Gallery, Artshole, Wimbledon Art Studios, Islington Arts Fair, Stephen Lawrence Gallery (in association with BBC Africa 05), and Peace Camp (curated by Bob and Roberta Smith
Patrick Brill
Patrick Brill, better known by his pseudonym Bob and Roberta Smith is a British contemporary artist.-Life and work:Brill graduated from University of Reading, Brill was awarded a scholarship at The British School at Rome while still an undergraduate...
). In February 2008, she is staging a joint exhibition, called Disney Heroines Committing Suicide, with Mark D
Mark D
Mark D, born Mark Randall, is a British artist and punk musician . He is also associated with the Stuckist group of artists.-Life and work:Mark D was born and spent his childhood in Peterborough. He now lives in Nottingham...
at La Viande gallery in Shoreditch
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney in England. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Etymology:...
, London.