23 November 1999:
EMIN SATELLITE OF MEDWAY POETS
At last some more of the true background of the Stuckist/Tracey
Emin connection is making it into the public domain.
An article in Getting It (US web magazine) by Iain Aitch mentions
Tracey Emin's origin as a 'satellite of the Medway Poets', the
group which 15 years later is the core of the Stuckist group.
Read the entire
article.
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19 November 1999:
STUCKISM AT SOUTH BANK UNIVERSITY
The first talk by a Stuckist on Stuckism at a British academic
institution took place on Thursday 18 November, with a lecture
by Charles Thomson at South Bank University, London. The talk
was scheduled for one hour, but most students opted to stay on
for two hours. Interest was considerable - particularly in the
context of ongoing Turner Prize debate - and questioning was intelligently
thorough.
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11 November 1999:
'SKY' MAG PROMOTES STUCKISM FOR 2000
A special CD-size supplement `99 4 2000 The next millenium now'
in the December issue of Sky magazine presents "a sneak preview
of what'll be big, cool or talked about next year" in a list of
99 items.
The only artists who seem to qualify are a new entry at number
94, to whit: Stuckists. Here's what it says:
"Pickled sheep and sharks? Yawn. Now old skool art sensationalists
like Damien Hirst and Chris Ofili are the new establishment, there's
no shortage of bright, young replacements. Leading the pack are
the Stuckists, founded by Charles Thomson and Tracey Emin's ex-fella
Billy Childish. And they're using paint, not vinegar."
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11 November 1999:
STUCKISM ON VIRGIN ATLANTIC
The Virgin Atlantic in-flight magazine 'Hotair' (Oct-Dec 99)
contains an article "Zone Art Head Turner" about Turner Prize
nominee,Tracey Emin, by notable columnist Chrissy Iley. It contains
the following passage:
"Introducing the Stuckists
"You know you have made it as an artist when an entire school
of art is formed in reaction against you, which may or may not
be a comfort to Tracey Emin when she ponders the bizarre emergence
of the Stuckist movement. Formed by the aptly named Billy Childish,
whose infantile paintings inspired Emin to dismiss his work as
"stuck, stuck, stuck", the fact that he is a former lover of Emin's
(intriguingly, both Childish and his mother are features in Emin's
infamous installation 'Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995'),
might have something to do with his crusade against her. But there
is a serious point to all this: Chidish and the other like-minded
artists who form the Stuckists - most notably Charles Thomson-
are fundamentally opposed to the way that Brit Art favours the
conceptual over all aesthetic considerations. "Brit Shit", as
they refer to the work of Emin and her cohorts, has become all
shock and no value. Although quite how Childish's naive portraits
redress the balance is another matter entirely. The Stuckist website
can be found at: http://victorian.fortunecity.com/churchmews/120"
(Please note web site is now: www.stuckism.com)
Thanks for the notification of the article by Raffaella Camera
currently resident in Santa Monica and destined one day to become
a star.
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06 November 1999:
Wohin soll das führen?
Jungewelt (06
Nov 99)
Read the article in German, including
a German translation of the Stuckist Manifesto. English translation
of article coming soon.
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27 October 1999:
Malerei als Risiko auf der Leinwand
(Full text in German. Translation
coming soon.)
by Barbara Schürenberg, -
Die Welt
Kunstmogul Charles Saatchi wird mittlerweile von allen Seiten
angeschossen. Nicht nur, dass die soeben in seiner Galerie er–ffnete
Ausstellung "Neurotischer Realismus" von den Kritikern fast einhellig
als Etikettenschwindel abgetan wird, zu allem Überfluss hat
sich nun auch noch die K¸nstlergruppe "The Stuckists" etabliert,
deren erkl”rtes Ziel es ist, die von Saatchi so vehement propagierte
"Britart" lediglich als zynisch kalkuliertes Marketing zu entlarven.
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25 October 1999:
EMIN TATE BED PROTEST `ANTI-STUCKISM'
Only two newspapers reported a curious detail of the Tracey
Emin bed romp 'performance' by two Chinese 'artists'.
Sam Wallace writing in The Daily Telegraph (25 Oct) commented
on one of the participants:
"Mr Cai... had words such as 'Communism', 'Anti-Stuckism', 'Freedom',
'Idealism' and 'Internationalism' written on his body in Chinese
as well as English."
This was however trumped by Fiachra Gibbons, Arts Correspondent
of The Guardian, who wrote:
"The Battle of the Bed may have been all over in a few minutes
but it will go down in art history as the defining moment of the
new and previously unheard of Anti-Stuckist Movement. That much
can be discerned from the slogans scrawled on JJ Xi and Yuan Chai's
bodies."
Also in the latter report was a splendid photo of Mr Chai leaping
across the bed with arms outstretched and the slogan 'ANTI-STUCKISM'
clearly written the length of his torso.
Mr Chai is also an ex-student of Maidstone College of Art, along
with Tracey Emin and Stuckists Charles Thomson and Charles Williams.
For those who missed the news, Mr Chai and Mr Xi, staged an event
by jumping on Turner Prize Nominee Tracey Emin's exhibition in
the Tate Gallery of her (unmade and unwashed) bed and had a pillow
fight.
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19 October 1999:
NEWSNIGHT BBC2
Charles Thomson, Jeremy Paxman and artist Brad Lochore debated
art, Stuckism and (sorry about this, but it can't unfortunately
be avoided) Tracey Emin's dirty knickers on the opening night
of this year's Turner Prize exhibition.
High moments of the item included Mr Lochore's assertion that
Mr Thomson's shoe could be art (shoe enters picture from bottom
right). Mr Thomson expostulated (that is the right description)
that he had never heard anything so ludicrous in his life - which
is not perhaps strictly true, but it did make the point.
Mr Lochore also stated that the Turner exhibits were indisputably
art. Mr Thomson said with impeccable logic that it was not indisputably
art, because he was disputing it.
Mr Lochore praised a plastic bottle on a cardboard plinth (made
by a friend). He found the bottle sexy. Mr Thomson did not find
it at all sexy; he found it to be a plastic bottle.
Paintings by Ella Guru (man's head with blond beehive wig),
Frances Castle (blue 'bunny rabbit' with face), Philip Absolon
(skeletons), Wolf Howard (cat and dog underwater) and Charles
Thomson (version of Gainsborough) were on display through the
programme.
Mr Paxman displayed some caution in taking Stuckism as not a
joke. Mr Thomson said the joke was that (sorry again) dirty knickers
were on display in the Tate Gallery, and that it was incredible
that to question this was seen in a suspect light and that Stuckism
was certainly not a joke (and it certainly isn't).
Mr Lochore is about to become a father imminently and we at
Stuckism wish him all the best with his new child. All the participants
agreed (off air) that such an event does put the matter of art
into its proper perspective.
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October 16 1999
This letter is reproduced from The Times (16 October) and is in
reply to an article about Tracey Emin published in The Times (2
October). (The writer of the letter is not a member of the Stuckist
Group.)
"ART ATTACK
I read with interest your article about Tracey Emin (The
Madness of Queen Tracey, October 2), especially the comments
made about her time at Maidstone College of Art.
I was a student at the college with Tracey and although she
did a lot for the college and students in the capacity of social
secretary, she certainly was not a "local legend" as depicted
by your article.
Most of us there considered her to be a very vocal publicist,
not only for college events, but for the Medway Poets and, principally,
Billy Childish (she was his girlfriend at the time). Being a small,
provincial college, everybody knew everybody else and, apart from
her loud announcing voice, she was no more distinctive than any
other student. If any one was a "living legend" it was Childish.
Concerning the beginning of her "personal and artistic stance",
Tracey's work at the time was very derivative of Childish's visual
art and writing. She appeared to walk not only in his shadow,
but in those of other Medway Poets, that derivation still echoing
in her current work.
I have fond memories of Tracey (I must add not so fond as to
appear in her tent) and her encouragement of my own writing, but
I would like to put a halt to the revisionism of that time and
to make sure that the people who were important do not get swept
away by the media Frankenstein that is being created around Tracey.
Yours faithfully
Steve Coots
Writer and tutor of Creative Writing at Canterbury University
67 London Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1DT"
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08 October 1999:
Ham
& High on Stuckism
(8 Oct 99)
"Whether you like the work or not is hardly the question: it
somehow rings true..."(more)
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29 September 1999:
A concept-free zone - interview
with Billy Childish in The Scotsman
BILLY Childish is stuck. Stuck in the past, stuck in his paintings,
stuck in his poems. He won't mind me saying this; he says it himself....
(continue...)
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23 September 1999:
CNN WORLDWIDE BROADCAST
A feature on Stuckism filmed during the hanging and private
view of the Gallery 108 show will be broadcast worldwide this
weekend by CNN. Viewing figures are around 200,000,000 (yes, that
is two hundred million) in over 200 countries.
The following times are a guideline only and for CNN International
(received in hotels). CNN Domestic times (i.e. home cable) may
vary slightly. Check your TV guide or contact local CNN office
for details. The program is called "Art TV".
UK
9.30pm Sat 25 Sept
7.30am Sun 26 Sept
3.30am Mon 27 Sept
4.30pm Mon 27 Sept
EUROPE
Add 1 hour to UK times.
US - ATLANTA TIME
1.30pm Sat 25 Sept
8.30am Sun 26 Sept
1.30pm Sun 26 Sept
10.30pm Sun 26 Sept
ASIA & PACIFIC
8.30am Sat 25 Sept
9.30pm Sat 25 Sept
7.30am Sun 26 Sept
4.30pm Sun 26 Sept
9.30am Mon 27 Sept
9.30pm Wed 29 Sept
LATIN AMERICA - BUENOS AIRES TIME
2.30pm Sat 25 Sept
9.30am Sun 26 Sept
2.30pm Sun 26 Sept
9.30am Mon 27 Sept
8.30pm Mon 27 Sept
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20 September 1999:
STUCK ON THE TUBE!
Metro, the free London newspaper available at stations for morning
commuters has a quarter-page item on Stuckism (20.9.99).
Most of this is a full-colour reproduction of Charles Williams'
painting 'Home From the Abbatoir' currently on display at Gallery
108.
Excerpts from the text by Nina Caplan:
"There is nothing new under the sun - no, Damien, not even pickled
sheep. Art traditionally gets round this by jumping up and down
and screaming with outrage at whatever the latest trend is, before
dedicating itself to the exact opposite, and the Stuckists are
nothing if not traditional."
"The Stuckists... are self-consciously traditional and gimmick-free."
"The anti-gimmick stance would look more convincing if the group
weren't named after Emin's words but there's no denying that the
Stuckists have a case."
Nor is there any denying that Nina Caplan has a case. However,
there are two parts to the Stuckist operation. The first is simply
the painting which has been going on for twenty years or more
in some cases, and will carry on come what may.
The second is the need to get this work a platform in a climate
which has been monopolised by those who marginalise it (particularly
the kind of painting done by Stuckists - which is actually concerned
with painting pictures rather than painting paintings of paint).
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18 September 1999:
BBC RADIO 4 'TODAY'
Charles Thomson, Stuckist co-founder, and Richard Cork, Art
Critic for The Times took part in a short live discussion at 8.20
am on the prestigious 'Today' programme.
Mr Thomson explained briefly the thrust of Stuckism. Mr Cork
responded that he was alarmed that major artists of Brit Art were
being so lightly dismissed.
Mr Thomson commented he saw their work as being light, and that
some Stuckists had spent ten years or more in isolation at home
on their painting because it had that degree of meaning for them,
whereas he could not imagine someone finding equivalent meaning
from spending ten years at home pickling dead sheep.
Mr Cork had not actually seen the Stuckist show as he had been
in Liverpool judging an art competition, but he promised to visit
during the week.
Mr Thomson gave an example of the 'art' that Stuckism opposes
as Turner Prize Nominee Tracey Emin's latest gimmick which is:
'pissing on a blanket'
Presenter: 'We don't like that word'
(presumably meaning 'pissing' rather than 'blanket')
Mr Thomson: 'It was on BBC 2'
Mr Cork, as critic, was given the last word and said again that
he had just been judging paintings and that painting was alive
and well anyway.
(Mr Thomson would like to point out here that it's not just
any old painting for the sake of it that Stuckism advocates, but
paintings based on particular principles and inner relevance -
please do read the Manifesto; it took a lot of work to compile)..
Later on in the 'Today' programme, an apology was broadcast
for any listeners who may have been upset by the bad language
(Brit Art?).
We hope to include excerpts from the transcript in due course.
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17 September 1999:
STUCK! STUCK! STUCK! PRIVATE VIEW
The first Stuckist exhibition is now open and, to those in the
know,it is obvious that the conceptual tat of Brit Art has been
rendered obsolete overnight. No doubt the dinosaur will lumber
on for a while yet. After all, there is a lot of capital and delusion
invested in it.
The Stuckist paintings come across with a life, inventiveness,
variety and colour that justifies all the anticipation - and they're
selling as well, which we are not displeased about.
The Private View itself (Thu 16 Sept) was a wonderful evening.
700-800 people turned up. There was an atmosphere of fun with
a sense of significance for a new beginning in contemporary art.
CNN and LWT both had camera crews, who were wonderfully unobtrusive
but managing to capture the bustle of it all and doing interviews.
Mr Barry Taleghany of the Arts Club was observed giving his considered
opinion, while Ms Suzie Bumstead fled in panic as soon as a lens
was pointed in her direction.
It was good also to meet some people who had emailed us after
seeing the web site - including Helen Roach and friends who had
endured three years at Falmouth College of Art.
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17 September 1999:
HOT TICKETS: STUCK! STUCK! STUCK! the first Stuckist
exhibition has been chosen by Helen Sumpter for Galleries Choice
(p46 Evening Standard Hot Tickets,17-23 September), along
with Cornelia Parker, Jason Martin and Neurotic Realism:Part Two.
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16 September 1999:
LWT NIGHTLIFE: Lucy Leveugle and Paul from The Lab LWT
were at Gallery 108 during the Stuckist exhibition hanging and
the next evening for the private view.
The result should be broadcast on LWT Nightlife programme (11.30-12.30
pm) Friday 24 September.
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14 September 1999:
"He has written 30 poetry books, made 80 albums and nearly 2,000
paintings. But he's best known as Tracey Emin's strange ex-boyfriend"
Interview
with Billy Childish in the Guardian.
08 September 1999:
Charles Williams writes
an Artist's Diary in September issue of Art Review. Stuckism is
conspicuously absent - it's all happened since the copy deadline.
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27 August 1999:
"Frances Castle: a Painter on a Rescue Mission" in the Highbury
and Islington Express, talking Stuckism and preparing for
her exhibition next week.
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26 August 1999:
'Rebels
get stuck into the Brit artists' Feature in The Times,
page 7, Thu 26 Aug 1999.
ERRATUM, LAST TWELVE LINES OF FEATURE:
The Stuckist exhibition is NOT from next Tues (31 Aug). This
is the private view night for a preceding exhibition (which happens
to feature Stuckist artist Frances Castle).
The Stuckist exhibition is from Friday 17- Thursday 30 September,
private view 6-9pm Thursday 16 September.
The correct address of the gallery is: Gallery 108, 108 Leonard
Street, EC2A 4XS (Tel: 0171 729 9108).
Joe Crompton is not a Stuckist artist. He is the proprietor
of Gallery 108, and a very decent chap too.
The quote 'She'll probably win...' is by Charles Thomson, not
Billy Childish as stated. Billy has said a lot of things, but
that wasn't one of them. The original quote ended: 'the sort of
thing she's doing - Brit Shit Art'. The latter three words have
been quite properly omitted.
22 August 1999:
WOLF HOWARD'S and CHARLES
WILLIAMS' paintings now online.
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21 August 1999:
TRACEY EMIN
Some people have seen Tracey Emin's name on the home page and
asked us who she is and is she a Stuckist and what is her connection
with Stuckism. Well, no she is not a Stuckist, But to quote Billy
Childish if she 'pulls her socks up' there is hope for her yet.
Some additional information is included in ORIGINS
OF STUCKISM.
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|
 Sunday
1 August 1999: Sunday
Times Culture supplement announces Stuckism's crusade against
Brit Art (cover right) with two page article.
|
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23 July 1999. Evening Standard, p12:
"Stuck in her ways": "The backlash has begun against the Turner-prize
nominee Tracey Emin, who once famously filled a tent with the
names of all the men she had slept with and declared it a work
of art. Her ex-boyfriend Billy Childish and some of her contemporaries
from Maidstone College of Art have started their own neo-conservative
movement called Stuckism.
'The name comes from Tracey's evaluation of Billy's 1,500
paintings over a 15-year period which was "His paintings are
stuck stuck stuck. He is stuck." Says Charles Thompson, a fellow
Stuckist. 'We are opposed to pop art, Brit art, minimalism,
conceptualism, installation art, video art, dead animal art
and tent art. We are happy to be radical and modern in our subject
matter, so long as it is painted using conservative techniques.
These days we are the ones who are anti-establishment.'"
July 1999: Website launched.
