thumb|The Stuckists Punk Victorian show at the [[Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 2004. Foreground: artists Rachel Jordan and Paul Harvey. Between them (back turned): Bill Lewis. Background paintings, left to right: Wolf Howard, Mandy McCartin, Charles Thomson, Ella Guru.]]

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.

It comprised more than 250 paintings by 37 artists, mostly from the UK but also with a representation of international Stuckist artists from the US, Germany and Australia. There was also a smaller accompanying exhibition of the Stuckist Photographers. A book, The Stuckists Punk Victorian, was published to accompany the exhibition. Six fringe shows, created in association with the event, took place internationally.

Some of the work was compared with the "shocking" work of YBAs, Jake and Dinos Chapman. The gallery posted a warning notice of some "sexual and violent" subject matter.

Daily Mail journalist, Jane Kelly, exhibited a painting of Myra Hindley and was dismissed from her job.

Critical reaction to the show ranged from "dreadful" to "the next big thing in art". Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate gallery, visited the show and called it "lively".

In 2005, the Stuckists offered 160 of the paintings as a donation to the Tate gallery. This was turned down by Serota on the grounds that the work was not of "sufficient quality". The rejection stimulated a campaign by the group over purchases of trustee work by the Tate. These purchases were subsequently censured by the Charity Commission.

thumb|The [[Walker Art Gallery during the show.]]

The Stuckists

The Stuckists were founded in 1999 by Charles Thomson and Billy Childish to promote figurative painting and oppose conceptual art. The name was derived from an insult by Tracey Emin. The original group of 13 artists has now grown to an international movement of over 160 groups in 40 countries. Childish left the group in 2001.

thumb|upright|Warning notice in the [[Walker Art Gallery during the show.]]

The main show was in a large gallery at the Walker which normally houses works from the contemporary collection. The paintings were hung in a manner akin to the "salon" style, using the whole height of the wall. "Founder and featured artists" were each given their own space, while representative works from other UK and international artists were grouped accordingly. There was also a free-standing display of work which satirised the Tate Gallery and the Turner Prize.

The Gallery posted a notice:

:VISITOR NOTICE: THE STUCKISTS PUNK VICTORIAN

:Stuckist artists believe in "honest and uncensored expression". Their wide range of subject matter includes themes of a sexual and violent nature. Some of the images in this exhibition may not be suitable for children. Due to an argument between Harvey and another artist, Gina Bold, the painting was not used and the show was cancelled. It then traces the history of the group from origins in 1979 to its foundation in 1999, reviews "A Dysfunctional Decade of Saatchi Art", describes Stuckist demonstrations at the Turner Prize and gives background on artists who have left the Stuckists—co-founder Billy Childish, Stella Vine and Gina Bold.

thumb|upright|[[Charles Thomson (artist)|Charles Thomson. Is My Shoe Art?]]

The second section is an analysis of a BBC2 Newsnight programme on 19 October 1999 hosted by Jeremy Paxman with Charles Thomson attacking that year's Turner Prize and artist Brad Lochore defending it. Thomson was displaying Stuckist paintings, while Lochore had brought along a plastic detergent bottle on a cardboard plinth. At one stage Lochore states, "if people say it's art, it's art". Paxman asks, "So you can say anything is art?" and Lochore replies, "You could say everything is art..." At this point Thomson, off-screen, can be heard to say, "Is my shoe art?" while at the same time his shoe appears in front of Lochore, who observes, "If you say it is. I have to judge it on those terms." Thomson's response is, "I've never heard anything so ludicrous in my life before."

The sexual and violent content of some of the paintings was commented on. Mark Lawson on BBC Radio 4 warned, with particular reference to a painting by Joe Machine of two sailors having anal sex, that the paintings might cause controversy, as they were "certainly not ... conventional" but contained "very bold and explicit images".

thumb|left|[[Joe Machine. Sea Shanty]]

Susan Mansfield in The Scotsman said they were "far from traditional or conservative" and "as shocking as anything Jake and Dinos Chapman could produce", adding "the Stuckists have a strong philosophical base". The Sunday Times saw the presence of the work in an established national museum as "another step on the road to critical acceptance", as did the museum review site 24hourmuseum: ""They’ve spent years fighting the establishment. Now ... the Stuckists have been invited to join it." The Scotsman reported that Stella Vine had threatened to commit suicide if her work was in the Stuckist show. which included a wall of work satirising the Tate and Serota himself, such as Thomson's Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions Decision. In fact, he did visit and met the artists, describing the work as "lively". In 2006 the Charity Commission censured the Tate and ruled that it had broken the law in making the purchase and similar trustee purchases during the previous 50 years.

Artists

Philip Absolon, Frances Castle, Elsa Dax, Eamon Everall, Ella Guru, Paul Harvey, Wolf Howard, Bill Lewis, Joe Machine, Peter McArdle, Mandy McCartin, Sexton Ming, Charles Thomson, Charles Williams

UK artists

Stephen Coots, David John Beesley, Dan Belton, John Bourne, Jonathon Coudrille, Michelle England, Stephen Howarth, Naive John, Rachel Jordan, Jane Kelly, Emily Mann, Daniel Pincham-Phipps, Matthew Robinson, Mary von Stockhausen.

International artists

Godfrey Blow, J Todd Dockery, Brett Hamil, Tony Juliano, ZF Lively, Terry Marks, Jesse Richards

Photographers

Andy Bullock, Larry Dunstan, Wolf Howard, Charles Thomson

<gallery>

Image:Philip Absolon. Job Club.jpg|Philip Absolon. Job Club

Image:Eamon Everall. Olympia.jpg|Eamon Everall. A Newer Olympia

Image:Ella Guru, Sexton Ming with Face Pack.jpg|Ella Guru. Facepack

Image:Paul Harvey, Madonna.jpg|Paul Harvey. Madonna

Image:Bill Lewis. God Is an Atheist - She Doesn't Believe in Me.jpg|Bill Lewis. God Is an Atheist: She Doesn't Believe in Me

Image:Joe Machine, My Grandfather Will Fight You.jpg|Joe Machine. My Grandfather Will Fight You

Image:Peter McArdle, An Annunciation.jpg|Peter McArdle. On a Theme of Annunciation

Image:Charles Thomson. A Long Way From Greece.jpg|Charles Thomson. A Long Way from Greece

Image:John Bourne. Aeroplane.jpg|John Bourne. Aeroplane

Image:Elsa Dax. Venus and Mars.jpg|Elsa Dax. Venus and Mars

Image:Jane Kelly. Psychosis 1.jpg|Jane Kelly. If We Could Undo Psychosis 1

Image:Wolf Howard. El Toro.jpg|Wolf Howard. El Toro

</gallery>

Notes and references

Further reading

  • Ed. Frank Milner. "The Stuckists Punk Victorian", National Museums Liverpool, 2004, .
  • The show on Stuckism website
  • The show on the Walker Gallery website
  • The show on the Stuckism Photography website
  • Charles Thomson's essay "A Stuckist on Stuckism" online
  • List of Stuckist paintings rejected by the Tate (Excel doc)
  • BBC interview with Bill Lewis at the show
  • Nerve magazine review of the show