Stuckism in America
Encyclopedia
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...
art movement
Art movement
An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a restricted period of time, or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined within a number of years...
was started 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...
in 1999 to promote figurative painting
Figurative art
Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork—particularly paintings and sculptures—which are clearly derived from real object sources, and are therefore by definition representational.-Definition:...
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...
. This was mentioned in the United States media, but the first Stuckist presence in US was not until the following year, when former installation
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
artist, Susan Constanse, founded a Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
chapter.
In 2001, a Seattle branch staged a demonstration
Stuckist demonstrations
Stuckist demonstrations since 2000 have been a key part of the Stuckist art group's activities and have succeeded in giving them a high profile both in Britain and abroad...
against a "tacky" city art project; and Jeffrey Scott Holland
Jeffrey Scott Holland
Jeffrey Scott Holland, , is an artist and musician living both in New York City and in Louisville, Kentucky. He is an active member of the Stuckist and Remodernist art movements, holding a traveling exhibit of Stuckist art in the United States in 2001, and co-curating the Deatrick Gallery, the...
, a Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
artist, organized a traveling show of Stuckist paintings. In 2002, Jesse Richards
Jesse Richards
Jesse Richards is a painter, filmmaker and photographer from New Haven, Connecticut and was affiliated with the international movement Stuckism.-Early life:...
and others founded a Stuckist gallery in New Haven, and staged a protest against the Iraq War.
In 2004, Richards, Terry Marks
Terry Marks
Terry Marks is a Stuckist artist in New York City. She was one of the US artists in the show The Stuckists Punk Victorian at the Walker Art Gallery during the 2004 Liverpool Biennial. She is also a tattooist and actor for film and television...
and others took part in The Stuckists Punk Victorian
The Stuckists Punk Victorian
The Stuckists Punk Victorian was the first national gallery exhibition of Stuckist art. It was held at the Walker Art Gallery and Lady Lever Art Gallery in Liverpool from 18 September 2004 to 20 February 2005, and was part of the 2004 Liverpool Biennial....
show in England. In 2005, Richards staged a show of Stuckist and Remodernist
Remodernism
Remodernism revives aspects of modernism, particularly in its early form, and follows postmodernism, to which it contrasts. Adherents of remodernism advocate it as a forward and radical, not reactionary, impetus....
groups in New York. In 2009, Nick Christos and others founded a student group in Miami. As of June 2010, there are 40 Stuckist groups in USA.
UK origin
The anti-conceptual artConceptual 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...
and pro-figurative painting
Figurative art
Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork—particularly paintings and sculptures—which are clearly derived from real object sources, and are therefore by definition representational.-Definition:...
art movement, 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...
, was founded by 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...
and Billy Childish
Billy Childish
Billy Childish is an English artist, painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist...
in 1999, and named after an insult from YBA artist, Tracey Emin
Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin RA is a British artist of English and Turkish Cypriot origin. She is part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs ....
. The founding group in London had 13 members. In 2000, it was decided that other artists should be free to start their own groups also, named after their locality. Stuckism has since grown into an international art movement of 209 groups in 48 countries, as of November 2010.
The initial UK group was covered in the US media: On 25 September 1999, CNN International
CNN International
CNN International is an international English language television network that carries news, current affairs, politics, opinions, and business programming worldwide. CNN is one of the world's largest news organizations. It is owned by Time Warner, and is affiliated with CNN, which is mainly...
covered the first London Stuckist show, Stuck! Stuck! Stuck! of "a radical new art movement". In the October issue of the Virgin Atlantic inflight magazien, Hotair, Chrissy Iley said of the Stuckists, "there is a serious point to all this ... 'Brit Shit', as they refer to the work of Emin and her cohorts, has become all shock and no value." In June 2000, ARTnews
ARTnews
ARTnews is an arts magazine based in New York, founded by James Clarence Hyde in 1902 as Hyde’s Weekly Art News. It is published 11 times a year.ARTnews covers all art, from ancient to Post-modernism...
, New York, covered the Stuckists.
US Stuckism
In 2000, Susan Constanse founded the first US group. The PittsburghPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
Stuckists—the second group to be founded outside the UK. This was announced in the In Pittsburgh Weekly, November 1, 2000: "The new word in art is Stuckism. A Stuckist paints their life, mind and soul with no pretensions and no excuses." Later that month, the paper looked at Constanse's show of work, Personal Thunderstorms, and said, "She believes conceptual art has alienated most viewers; art shouldn't be a private language; and that it should speak of the human condition."
In May 2001, the Seattle Stuckist group protested with placards, such as "Art-vertising is bad for the soul" and "Tacky and lame", against "Pigs on Parade", large fiberglass pigs which had been installed in the city and decorated by artists to make money for charity. Their objection was to commercial devaluation of art through "an insidious trend in corporate art-vertising. It appeals to the lowest public tastes by providing a kitschy, totally predigested and inoffensive McArt for the masses", especially as social or ethical comment is banned from the designs. King 5 News mentioned the group (with a "glib chuckle"), but otherwise the event went unreported.
In 2001, Jeffrey Scott Holland
Jeffrey Scott Holland
Jeffrey Scott Holland, , is an artist and musician living both in New York City and in Louisville, Kentucky. He is an active member of the Stuckist and Remodernist art movements, holding a traveling exhibit of Stuckist art in the United States in 2001, and co-curating the Deatrick Gallery, the...
of the mid-Kentucky Stuckists organised a traveling show of Stuckist paintings in the US.
Jesse Richards
Jesse Richards
Jesse Richards is a painter, filmmaker and photographer from New Haven, Connecticut and was affiliated with the international movement Stuckism.-Early life:...
affiliated with the Stuckist
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...
art movement in 2001, and in 2002 with others founded a gallery as the first Stuckism center in the US, helping to organize shows. The center opened its doors with a show entitled "We Only Want to Do Some Fucking Paintings."
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Jesse Richards Jesse Richards is a painter, filmmaker and photographer from New Haven, Connecticut and was affiliated with the international movement Stuckism.-Early life:... |
Tony Juliano Tony Juliano is a satirist painter in Orange, Connecticut and is affiliated with the international art movement Stuckism.-Life and work:Tony Juliano was born in 1975... |
| Richards and Juliano, with Nicholas Watson Nicholas Watson Nicholas Watson is a writer and filmmaker. He co-founded the New Haven Stuckist art group.- Life and Art :Nicholas Watson has worked on films with Jesse Richards since 1997. In 2001, Watson co-founded the New Haven, Connecticut chapter of the Stuckism art movement with Richards. Stuckism was... , organised the "Clown Trial of President Bush". |
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To "highlight the fact that the Iraq war does not have the support of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, thus violating a binding contract with the UN", The Clown Trial of President Bush took place at 7 p.m. on March 21, 2003 on the steps of the New Haven Federal Courthouse, staged by local Stuckist artists dressed in clown costume, led by Jesse Richards
Jesse Richards
Jesse Richards is a painter, filmmaker and photographer from New Haven, Connecticut and was affiliated with the international movement Stuckism.-Early life:...
, Nicholas Watson
Nicholas Watson
Nicholas Watson is a writer and filmmaker. He co-founded the New Haven Stuckist art group.- Life and Art :Nicholas Watson has worked on films with Jesse Richards since 1997. In 2001, Watson co-founded the New Haven, Connecticut chapter of the Stuckism art movement with Richards. Stuckism was...
and Tony Juliano
Tony Juliano
Tony Juliano is a satirist painter in Orange, Connecticut and is affiliated with the international art movement Stuckism.-Life and work:Tony Juliano was born in 1975...
. One of the participants was "a public defender for the state of CT. He thought it would be cool to dress up with us as clowns and do the thing. He ended up playing the clown judge. The courthouse that he works at is a block away from the federal courthouse where we did this."
Simultaneously the Stuckism International gallery run by them opened a War on Bush show, including work from Brazil, Germany and the UK, while the London equivalent staged a "War on Blair" show. The Yale Herald
The Yale Herald
The Yale Herald is a newspaper run by undergraduate students at Yale University since 1986. As a weekly, the paper aims to provide in-depth, investigative reporting, and includes comics, arts and entertainment coverage, sports and intramurals sections, and coverage of campus and local events...
reported it with the headline, "Stuckists scoff at 'crap,' war". Richards took the opportunity to comment, "Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. Considered by some to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Duchamp's output influenced the development of post-World War I Western art...
would go over to the Yale University Art Gallery
Yale University Art Gallery
The Yale University Art Gallery houses a significant and encyclopedic collection of art in several buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Although it embraces all cultures and periods, the Gallery possesses especially renowned collections of early Italian painting,...
and he would say, 'This is crap,' and he would go paint a picture."
In 2004, US Stuckists Jesse Richards
Jesse Richards
Jesse Richards is a painter, filmmaker and photographer from New Haven, Connecticut and was affiliated with the international movement Stuckism.-Early life:...
, Tony Juliano
Tony Juliano
Tony Juliano is a satirist painter in Orange, Connecticut and is affiliated with the international art movement Stuckism.-Life and work:Tony Juliano was born in 1975...
, Terry Marks
Terry Marks
Terry Marks is a Stuckist artist in New York City. She was one of the US artists in the show The Stuckists Punk Victorian at the Walker Art Gallery during the 2004 Liverpool Biennial. She is also a tattooist and actor for film and television...
, Jesse Todd Dockery, Brett Hamil and Z.F. Lively were included in the Stuckists' first show in a national museum, The Stuckists Punk Victorian
The Stuckists Punk Victorian
The Stuckists Punk Victorian was the first national gallery exhibition of Stuckist art. It was held at the Walker Art Gallery and Lady Lever Art Gallery in Liverpool from 18 September 2004 to 20 February 2005, and was part of the 2004 Liverpool Biennial....
in the Walker Art Gallery
Walker Art Gallery
The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England, outside of London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group, and is promoted as "the National Gallery of the North" because it is not a local or regional gallery but is part...
, England, during the 2004 Liverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial is a British international festival of contemporary art held in Liverpool. The festival comprises the International Exhibition, the John Moores Painting Prize, the Bloomberg New Contemporaries Exhibition and the Independents Biennial....
.
In 2005, Richards curated Addressing the Shadow and Making Friends with Wild Dogs: Remodernism
Addressing the Shadow and Making Friends with Wild Dogs: Remodernism
Addressing the Shadow and Making Friends with Wild Dogs: Remodernism, held in 2005 in New York, United States, was the first American exhibition that included work from all of the Remodernist groups, and was one of the last art shows at CB's 313, the gallery connected to CBGB...
, the first Remodernism
Remodernism
Remodernism revives aspects of modernism, particularly in its early form, and follows postmodernism, to which it contrasts. Adherents of remodernism advocate it as a forward and radical, not reactionary, impetus....
exhibition in the US to include work from all of the Remodernist groups, including the Stuckists, the Defastenists
Defastenism
Defastenism is a Remodernist art movement founded in Dublin in 2004. The Defastenists are also known as The Defastenist Party. Artists who have participated in it include Gary Farrelly, Padraic E...
, Remodernist Film and Photography, and Stuckism Photography. The show took place at the CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
313 gallery. In 2006, Richards was one of the artists in The Triumph of Stuckism, a show at Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool John Moores University is a British 'modern' university located in the city of Liverpool, England. The university is named after John Moores and was previously called Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts and later Liverpool Polytechnic before gaining university status in 1992, thus...
Hope Street Gallery, curated by Naive John
Naive John
Naive John is a British artist and figurative painter. His work shows attention to detail with subjects that combine elements from popular culture alongside the mythic and mundane. He has also in the past been involved in the Stuckism art movement.-Art: Naive John is a self-taught artist...
at the invitation of Professor Colin Fallows, Chair of Research at Liverpool School of Art and Design, and part of the Liverpool Biennial. Richards left the Stuckist movement in 2006.
Also in 2005, Tulsa Stuckist, Allen Herndon, also known as A. Sea Herndon, published online The Manifesto of the American Stuckists, which said, "[W]e are not a political group; we are painters ... Politics destroyed the spiritual aspects of Surrealism. The Los Angeles Stuckists group responded that this was a "strange definition" and that "the primary objectives of the Remodernist movement consists of uprooting postmodern thought and institutions. That is no small undertaking, and the process in large part has been, and will continue to be, an intensely political one."
In 2009, a group of students, led by Nick Christos, from Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University, also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic, is a public, coeducational, research university located in , United States. The university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and in Fort...
, founded the Miami Stuckists group and staged an exhibition at Grace Cafe & Galleries in Dania Beach of paintings, described by The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company headquartered on Biscayne Bay in the Omni district of Downtown Miami, Florida, United States...
as "forceful, compelling, spiritual, hopeful and obvious". Christos exhibited a picture of a clown missing one ear as a portrait of 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,...
, whose "work implies no ideas and is boring", Christos said. He continued: "Stuckism is a renaissance of modernism—it's re-modernism. We paint what we see." Other members of the group are Andrew Ackerman, Ilya Alekseyev, and Anna Girgis..
By November 2010, 40 Stuckist groups had been founded in the US.
Shows
- 2001 Travelling show (Richmond, Los Angeles, Seattle, Orlando, New Haven)
- 2002 Stuckism (Fringe Gallery, New Jersey)
- 2002 We just Wanna Show Some Fuckin' Paintings (Stuckist Gallery, New Haven)
- 2003 The War On Bush (Stuckist Gallery, New Haven)
- 2004 The Stuckists Punk Victorian In the Toilet
- 2005 Addressing the Shadow and Making Friends with Wild Dogs: RemodernismAddressing the Shadow and Making Friends with Wild Dogs: RemodernismAddressing the Shadow and Making Friends with Wild Dogs: Remodernism, held in 2005 in New York, United States, was the first American exhibition that included work from all of the Remodernist groups, and was one of the last art shows at CB's 313, the gallery connected to CBGB...
(CBGBCBGBCBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
's 313 Gallery New York) - 2009 New Life: The Premiere Exhibition of the Miami Stuckists
- 2010 Stuck in Fort Lauderdale: The Raving Reactionary Miami Stuckist Daubers
Solo shows
Some solo shows promoted as Stuckist include:
- Terry Marks (New York)
US Stuckist groups
These are shown in order of foundation with date of founding and founder(s).- The Pittsburgh Stuckists (2000), Susan Constanse http://www.users.sgi.net/~constant
- The Central Kentucky Stuckists (2001), Jeffrey Scott HollandJeffrey Scott HollandJeffrey Scott Holland, , is an artist and musician living both in New York City and in Louisville, Kentucky. He is an active member of the Stuckist and Remodernist art movements, holding a traveling exhibit of Stuckist art in the United States in 2001, and co-curating the Deatrick Gallery, the...
- The Seattle Stuckists (2001), Brett Hamil, Jeremy Puma http://www.BrettHamil.com
- The New Haven Stuckists (2001), Jesse RichardsJesse RichardsJesse Richards is a painter, filmmaker and photographer from New Haven, Connecticut and was affiliated with the international movement Stuckism.-Early life:...
, Nicholas WatsonNicholas WatsonNicholas Watson is a writer and filmmaker. He co-founded the New Haven Stuckist art group.- Life and Art :Nicholas Watson has worked on films with Jesse Richards since 1997. In 2001, Watson co-founded the New Haven, Connecticut chapter of the Stuckism art movement with Richards. Stuckism was...
http://www.stuckfilm.com - The New Orleans Stuckists (2001), Barry Goubler
- The New York Stuckists (2001), Terry MarksTerry MarksTerry Marks is a Stuckist artist in New York City. She was one of the US artists in the show The Stuckists Punk Victorian at the Walker Art Gallery during the 2004 Liverpool Biennial. She is also a tattooist and actor for film and television...
http://www.artgalny.com - The Minnesota Stuckists (2001), Dan Murphy http://mn-stuckists.8m.com
- The Delaware Stuckists (2001), Wilson Lakanuki
- The San Diego Stuckists (2001), Joe Morse http://www.sdstuckists.com
- The Chicago Stuckists (2001), Richard J. Cronborg http://www.cronborgart.com
- The Connecticut Stuckists (2002). Tony Juliano http://www.agooart.com
- The Florida Stuckists (2002), Selena'liunde http://web.archive.org/web/20091021190112/http://geocities.com/fl_stuckism
- The San Francisco Stuckists (2003), Frank KozikFrank KozikFrank Kozik is an American graphic artist who has worked with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Melvins, The Offspring and Butthole Surfers. Kozik runs Man's Ruin Records, a media outlet and record label, and has published several books including Man's Ruin:...
- The Long Beach Stuckists (2003), David Mark Dannov http://www.davidmarkdannov.com
- The Austin Texas Stuckists (2003), Vanessa Rossetto http://www.pervertedlogic.com/pserv
- The Albany NY Stuckists (2004), Mark Wilson
- The Philadelphia Stuckists (2004), Anthony D. Palumbo
- The St Louis Missouri Stuckists (2004), Kim Richardson http://www.keekart.com
- The Kentucky Mooleyville Sculpting Stuckists (2005), Meg White, Don Lawler http://www.sculptorstwo.com
- The Minneapolis Stuckists (2005), S.R. Michaud http://www.studiomichaud.com
- The Reno Stuckists (2006), Peggy Clydesdale http://www.whitetrashart.com
- The Chicago Loop Stuckists (2006), Yoshi (Gakumei Yoshimoto)
- The Los Angeles Stuckist Group (2006)http://www.la-stuckism.com
- The Olympia (Washington) Stuckists (2006) Joseph Coon and Vince Verbatim
- The Oklahoma City Stuckists (2006), Colin Newman http://www.iamadot.org/colin
- The Colorado Springs Stuckists (2006), David Graham http://www.cosart.blogspot.com
- The Tulsa Stuckists (2006), Allen Herndon aka A. Sea Herndon http://www.allenherndon.com
- The Phoenix Stuckists (2006), Chris Hardy http://www.wallflowerart.com
- The Central Illinois Stuckists (2007), Robin Grant
- The Orange County of California Stuckists (2007), Nick Treadway http://360.yahoo.com/alienempire_90631
- The Amarillo Texas Stuckists (2008), Mardy Lemmons http://www.mardylemmons.com
- The Missouri Valley Stuckists (2008) Floyd Anthony Alsbach http://www.alsbach-art.com
- The Savannah Stuckists (2008), Zach Ryals http://www.jamuse.com/ViewPortfolio.aspx?userID=597
- The Fort Lauderdale Stuckists and St. Remy, Provence (2009), Jaff Noël Seijas http://www.jaffseijas.com
- The Lower East Side New York Stuckists (2009), Mike Rimbaud http://www.mikerimbaud.com
- The Jacksonville Stuckists (2009), Virginia Andow http://vandow.wordpress.com
- The Missoula Stuckists (2009), Dylan R. Frey http://the-silent-war.blogspot.com
- The Miami Stuckists (2009), Nick Christos http://miamistuckists.blogspot.com
- The Boston Massachusetts Stuckists (2010), David Fichter http://www.davidfichter.com
- The Lansing Stuckists (2010), Steev Lockhart http://steevlockhartart.moonfruit.com
Further reading
- Ed. Frank Milner (2004), "The Stuckists Punk Victorian" National Museums Liverpool, ISBN 1-902700-27-9
External links
- Stuckism International official site
- US National Public Radio interview (2001) with Thomson and Childish Includes audio and slide show
- Stuck in L.A.