The
Stuckists: The
First Remodernist Art Group
Introduced
& Edited by Billy
Childish & Charles Thomson
What is Stuckism? Well it’s difficult to tell by referring to this Manifesto/Catalogue which adopts a scattergun approach in its response to the failure of Modernism, the absurdity of Post-Modernism (how can there be a post if the thing itself never really followed through!) and, prime target, the con-trick of all forms of ‘conceptual art’. Trouble is, I can think of one or two recent exhibitions of what I’d certainly call ‘conceptual work’ which I found much more stimulating and thought-provoking than most of the painting offered here as an antidote. More seriously, although the key instigators Charles Thomson and Billy Childish harangue the Saatchi brothers, Nicholas Serota and The London Institute for bringing visual art into disrepute and abolishing real art education, their knockabout style – riddled with flagrant self-publicity, it has to be said – does nothing to suggest practical alternatives, short of a vague appeal to populism and a goodly dose of ‘spiritual values’ (no attempt at any coherent explanation of what these might entail!).
The Manifesto is a mix of crude anti-intellectualism, public
relations (Charles Thomson missed his vocation – he’s a genius at this!) and
pithy statements which both appear humble yet suggest profundity. It’s a neat
trick which can almost fool you on a superficial reading but the content is as
vacuous and incoherent as the sterile conceptualism which the perpetrators hate
so much.
A resume. The Stuckists emerged from a disparate group of writers (poets) visual artists and musicians, loosely termed The Medway Poets who gathered in 1975 around a group of poetry readings organised at a Maidstone pub by Bill Lewis and Rob Earl. Billy Childish and Charles Thomson completed the nucleus of the group and were joined by Sexton Ming from Gravesend. There were other group ‘members’ of course, including for a while Tracey Emin. Maidstone School of Art seems to have been the catalyst and a concern with all the key art forms –music; literature; painting was central. The group has been extraordinarily productive, energised by the do-it-yourself ethos of punk and rejection by educational institutions (Thomson failed his degree at Maidstone and Childish was expelled from St. Martins). Childish has performed with numerous bands including the near-legendary Milkshakes and has produced around 90 L.P.s. As well as putting out 30 collections of his own poetry and a couple of novels under his own Hangman imprint he has also published the work of other group members. Hangman books, incidentally, modelled somewhat on The Black Sparrow Press are an early indication of how good the end product could appear on a low budget.
If Billy Childish is looking for a model of the marriage of form and content in contemporary publishing he could do worse than look out the beautifully self-produced publications of the young Welsh poet Lloyd Robson, particularly Letter from Sissi, where the quality of the writing is equalled by the production values. Childish’s paintings, which for me represent the strongest aspect of his output have been exhibited in the States and in Europe.
Charles Thomson has published a number of collections of poetry as has Bill
Lewis, the best writer by far in the group. The key figures all practise at
least two art forms and are proud, with justification, of the term
‘amateur’. This only becomes problematic when you start to look at the
quality of the output. Thomson’s poetry for example scans and rhymes and is
always about things which everybody can understand and relate to. He’s sharp
and mildly satirical. His work is also pretty awful! When you’ve read 3 or 4
of his poems you’ve really got the message and I can’t imagine why anyone
would want to bother further. Similarly with his paintings, which, to my eye are
as ‘slick’ and ‘clever’ as that arty cleverness he professes to dislike
so much. Take the ‘satire’ on Tracey Emin which appears in the Manifesto
publication under the heading Sir Nicholas
Serota Makes an Acquisition Decision. Flat poster-colour in the style of
Patrick Caulfield. A beaming Thomson appears behind a clothes line upon which a
pair of red knickers are pegged. First bubble caption says – Is it a genuine Emin (£10,000)
while the second thinks Or a worthless
fake. Now I’m no great fan of Tracey Emin’s work either (I do like some
of her drawings) but this sort of stuff is just not good enough. There’s no
real debate here about anything, simply another populist bandwaggon hijacked in
the cause of the Stuckist publicity
machine. You get the feeling that Thomson is laughing (cynically) all the way to
the bank. Perhaps when the original Tories finally start to get their act
together he can be hired to sort out their public image and make them electable
again. Could be he’s found his ‘spiritual home’! Add to this the fact that
Childish’s much publicised relationship to Emin provides the grist for this
particular publicity appeal and it all starts to seem a tad tacky.
The anti-intellectualism of the Stuckists/Medway poets is a real problem for me. I happen to think that art forms can be intellectual or include intellectual content. They don’t have to do this of course but they can and it shouldn’t be held against them for doing so. Likewise the reverse. A painting or poem or piece of music should be judged on its merits for what it is doing or attempting, not what it’s not doing. A category mistake which is very common.
Billy Childish’s poetry, which, at its best, has a raw, expressionist energy, is full of ‘clever’ anti-intellectual stuff which professes to be ‘real’. He reminds me a little of Dee Rimbaud but the latter is a much more accomplished writer. Sometimes you get the impression that a thought has never entered Childish’s mind! I can remember having a conversation with him once when he seemed genuinely puzzled at the silliness of Attila the Stockbroker’s monicker! More worrying is the way this seems to have seeped into Bill Lewis’ work in recent years. This is a real tragedy. His poetry which combines humour with feeling and indeed learning is the most powerful the group has produced. The quality may be patchy but at its best it’s up with there with the richest work produced over the last 20 years. His recent attack against universities FULL STOP in a poem is woefully ignorant and wrong-headed. The British class system still has a lot to answer for. Or perhaps a certain degree of success just turns most people into mid-life conservatives?
The paintings included in the Manifesto selection aren’t bad. Most of them are pretty competent and Childish’s expressionist pieces are quite powerful. But there is nothing here which seems to have any spark of newness or bite. It’s all pretty derivative and some of it can even be accused of the pretentiousness and emptiness which the Stuckists profess to so hate. There’s a lack of real self-analysis and serious debate here which is deeply depressing.
Stuckism isn’t going to lead current art practice out of the
doldrums. The Stuckists are too stuck in their own conservative value system,
which paradoxically they perceive to be radical. They do occasionally identify
the real enemy but they don’t seem able to present any sort of real argument.
At best this Manifesto is a missed opportunity, a submerged squib, at worst
it’s an opportunistic publicity stunt which is as shallow as the Brit Pop and
gloss which merits their rancour. Very sad.
© Steve Spence