STUCKISM: Remodernising the Mainstream

1 October – 11 December, Private View: October 1, 17:30 – 20:00

Monday – Friday 11:00 – 17:00

Admission Always Free

Featuring over 70 paintings by 42 Stuckist artists, this exhibition was the first in Kent since the movement’s formation in Medway in 1999. On view from October 1 through to December 11, 2015, the show demonstrated the now-global reach of the movement and will included works by co-founder Charles Thomson, Ella Guru, Joe Machine, Jaroslav Valecka and Black Francis (frontman of The Pixies). The exhibition located the Stuckist art movement in both historical and academic contexts in order to track their development and their relationship to the ‘mainstream’ art world. The exhibition was co-curated by the Studio 3 Gallery MA Curating group in collaboration with Charles Thomson.

“Your paintings are stuck! You are stuck! Stuck! Stuck! Stuck!”

Named after an insult hurled by Tracey Emin to her then-boyfriend Billy Childish, Stuckism was founded by Charles Thomson and Billy Childish in 1999 with the aim to revive contemporary figurative painting. Initially garnering attention for bombastic demonstrations and protests outside major UK art institutions, since 1999 Stuckism has evolved into a truly international movement. Stuckist groups now operate from Buenos Aires to Beijing; however, there are still deep ties to the Medway areas from which many of the founding Stuckists originated. Fifteen years later, the Stuckists have hung up the clown costumes from their youth and put the protest signs away, returning to Kent as a mature and scholarly painting movement.

According to Dr Grant Pooke, ‘Stuckism: Remodernising the Mainstream is an expansive and imaginatively conceived exhibition which showcases the presence, talent and ambition of a new generation of curators and gallerists.’

Artists included: Philip Absolon, Floyd Anthony Alsbach, Virginia Andow, Richard Bledsoe, Godfrey Blow, John Bourne, Nick Christos, Jonathon Coudrille, Adam Crosland, Mark D, Elsa Dax, Hamed Dehnavi, Artista Eli, Eamon Everall, Black Francis, Andrew Galbraith, Ella Guru, Paul Harvey, Jiri Hauschka, Wolf Howard, Edgeworth Johnstone, Jacqueline Jones, Jane Kelly, Shelley Li, Joe Machine, Terry Marks, Peter Murphy, Bill Lewis, Persita, Justin Piperger, Emma Pugmire, Farsam Sangini, Frank Schroeder, Jasmine Surreal, Charles Thomson, Marketa Urbanova, Yaroslav Valecka, Charles Williams, Odysseus Yakoumakis, Chris Yates, Annie Zamero.