Stuckism International
Formation	August 3, 1999 (1999-08-03) (12 years ago)
Location	Worldwide
Membership	230 groups
Founders	Billy Childish Charles Thomson
Members	Philip Absolon, Frances Castle, Eamon Everall, Ella Guru, Bill Lewis, Joe Machine, Charles Williams, Elsa Dax, Guy Denning, Michael Dickinson, Robert Janás, Odysseus Yakoumakis, John Bourne, Mark D, Paul Harvey, Stephen Howarth, Alexis Hunter, Abby Jackson, Naive John, Rachel Jordan, Jane Kelly, Peter McArdle, Mandy McCartin, Peter Murphy, Rémy Noë, Udaiyan, Peggy Clydesdale, Jeffrey Scott Holland, Tony Juliano, Frank Kozik, Terry Marks, Nicholas Watson, Godfrey Blow, Asim Butt, Mike Mayhew, Regan Tamanui, Jonathon Coudrille, Artista Eli
Website	www.stuckism.com

Stuckism is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting in opposition to conceptual art.^[1][2] The initial group of 13 British artists has expanded to 230 groups in 52 countries as of April 2012.^[3]

Childish and Thomson have issued several manifestos, the first one being The Stuckists, consists of 20 points starting with "Stuckism is a quest for authenticity".^[4] Remodernism, the other well-known manifesto of the movement is a criticism of postmodernism and aims to get back to the true spirit of modernism, to produce art with spiritual value regardless of style, subject matter or medium.^[5] In another manifesto they also define themselves as anti-anti-art^[6] which is against anti-art and for art.^[7]

After exhibiting in small galleries in Shoreditch, London, the Stuckists' first show in a major public museum was held in 2004 at the Walker Art Gallery, as part of the Liverpool Biennial. The group has demonstrated annually at Tate Britain against the Turner Prize since 2000, sometimes dressed in clown costumes. They have also come out in opposition to the Charles Saatchi-patronised Young British Artists.

Although painting is the dominant artistic form of Stuckism, artists using other media such as photography, sculpture, film and collage have also joined, and share the Stuckist opposition to conceptualism and ego-art.^[8]

Name, founding and origin[link]

The name "Stuckism" was coined in January 1999 by Charles Thomson in response to a poem read to him several times by Billy Childish. In it, Childish recites that his former girlfriend, Tracey Emin had said he was "stuck! stuck! stuck!" with his art, poetry and music.^[9] Later that month, Thomson approached Childish with a view to co-founding an art group called Stuckism, which Childish agreed to, on the basis that Thomson would do the work for the group, as Childish already had a full schedule.^[9]

There were eleven other founding members: Philip Absolon, Frances Castle, Sheila Clark, Eamon Everall, Ella Guru, Wolf Howard, Bill Lewis, Sanchia Lewis, Joe Machine, Sexton Ming, and Charles Williams.^[9] The membership has evolved since its founding through creative collaborations:^[10] the group was originally promoted as painters, but members work in various other media, including poetry, fiction, performance, photography, film and music.^[9]

In 1979, Thomson, Childish, Bill Lewis and Ming were members of The Medway Poets performance group, to which Absolon and Sanchia Lewis had also contributed.^[9] Peter Waite's Rochester Pottery staged a series of solo painting shows.^[9] In 1982, TVS broadcast a documentary on the poets.^[9] That year, Emin, then a fashion student, and Childish started a relationship; her writing was edited by Bill Lewis, printed by Thomson and published by Childish.^[9] Group members published dozens of works.^[9] The poetry group dispersed after two years, reconvening in 1987 to record The Medway Poets LP.^[9] Clark, Howard and Machine became involved over the following years.^[9] Thomson got to know Williams, who was a local art student and whose girlfriend was a friend of Emin; Thomson also met Everall.^[9] During the foundation of the group, Ming brought in his girlfriend, Guru, who in turn invited Castle.^[9]

Manifestos[link]

The first Stuckists group of 13 artists at the Real Turner Prize Show, Pure Gallery, Shoreditch, London, in October 2000

In August 1999, Childish and Thomson wrote The Stuckists manifesto^[4] which places great importance on the value of painting as a medium, as well as its use for communication, the expression of emotion and of experience – as opposed to what Stuckists see as the superficial novelty, nihilism and irony of conceptual art and postmodernism. The most contentious statement in the manifesto is: "Artists who don't paint aren't artists".

The second and third manifestos, respectively An Open Letter to Sir Nicholas Serota and Remodernism, were sent to Nicholas Serota which received a brief reply: "Thank you for your open letter dated 6 March. You will not be surprised to learn that I have no comment to make on your letter, or your manifesto 'Remodernism'."^[11]

In Remodernism manifesto, the Stuckists declared that they aimed to replace postmodernism with remodernism, a period of renewed spiritual (as opposed to religious) values in art, culture and society. Other manifestos include Handy Hints, Anti-anti-art, The Cappuccino writer and the Idiocy of Contemporary Writing, The Turner Prize, The Decreptitude of the Critic and Stuckist critique of Damien Hirst.

Manifestos have been written by other Stuckists, including the Students for Stuckism group. An "Underage Stuckists" group was founded in 2006 with their own manifesto for teenagers by two 16-year olds, Liv Soul and Rebekah Maybury, on MySpace.^[12] In 2006, Allen Herndon published The Manifesto of the American Stuckists, the content of which was challenged by the Los Angeles Stuckists group.^[13]

Growth in UK[link]

Stuck! Stuck! Stuck!, the first Stuckist show, 1999.

In July 1999, the Stuckists were first mentioned in the media, in an article in The Evening Standard and soon gained other coverage, helped by press interest in Tracey Emin, who had been nominated for the Turner Prize.^[14]

The first Stuckist show was Stuck! Stuck! Stuck! held in September 1999 in Joe Crompton's Gallery 108 (now defunct) in Shoreditch, followed by The Resignation of Sir Nicholas Serota. In 2000 they staged The Real Turner Prize Show at the same time as the Tate Gallery's Turner Prize exhibition.^[15]

A "Students for Stuckism" group was founded in 2000 by students from Camberwell College of Arts, who staged their own exhibition. S.P. Howarth was expelled from the painting degree course at Camberwell college for his paintings,^[16] and had the first solo exhibit at the Stuckism International Gallery in 2002, named I Don't Want a Painting Degree if it Means Not Painting.^[17]

Thomson stood as a Stuckist candidate for the 2001 British General Election, in the constituency of Islington South & Finsbury, against Chris Smith, the then Secretary of State for Culture. He picked up 108 votes (0.4%).^[18][19] Childish left the group at this time because he couldn't stand Thomson being in charge of the group.^[20][21]

Stuckism International Gallery

From 2002 to 2005 Thomson ran the Stuckism International Centre and Gallery in Shoreditch, London. In 2003, under the title A Dead Shark Isn't Art, the gallery exhibited a shark which had first been put on public display in 1989 (two years before Damien Hirst's) by Eddie Saunders in his Shoreditch shop, JD Electrical Supplies. It was suggested Hirst may have seen this at the time and copied it, but that regardless, Saunders was the real pioneering artist.^[22]

In 2003 they reported Charles Saatchi to the UK Office of Fair Trading, complaining that he had an effective monopoly on art. The complaint was not upheld.^[23] In 2003, an allied group, Stuckism Photography, was founded by Larry Dunstan and Andy Bullock. In 2005 the Stuckists offered a donation of 175 paintings from the Walker show to the Tate that was rejected by the Tate Board of Trustees.^[24]