The Stuckism International Gallery was the gallery of the

Stuckist Stuckism () is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson (artist), Charles Thomson to promote Figurative art, figurative painting as opposed to conceptual art.Shoreditch Shoreditch is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney alongside neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets, which are also perceived as part of the area due to historic ecclesiastical links. Shoreditch lies just north ...

, and was run by

Charles Thomson Charles Thomson (November 29, 1729 – August 16, 1824) was an Irish-born Founding Father of the United States and secretary of the Continental Congress (1774–1789) throughout its existence. As secretary, Thomson prepared the Journals of the ...

, the co-founder of Stuckism. It was launched by a procession carrying a coffin marked "The death of conceptual art" to the neighbouring

White Cube White Cube is a contemporary art gallery founded by Jay Jopling in London in 1993. The gallery has two branches in London: White Cube Mason's Yard in central London and White Cube Bermondsey in South East London; White Cube Hong Kong, in Centra ...

gallery. The gallery staged group and solo shows of Stuckist paintings, and displayed a preserved shark as a challenge to

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist and art collector. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest ...

and

Charles Saatchi Charles Saatchi ( ; ; born 9 June 1943) is an Iraqi-British businessman and the co-founder, with his brother Maurice, of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. The brothers led the business – the world's largest advertising agency in the 19 ...

. The premises were taken over by La Viande gallery, which shut in 2008.

History

had originally intended to buy a

Shoreditch Shoreditch is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney alongside neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets, which are also perceived as part of the area due to historic ecclesiastical links. Shoreditch lies just north ...

warehouse building with his then-wife, Stella Vine, but, after the arrangements had been made, she withdrew from the project. He subsequently made the purchase on his own. The Stuckism International Gallery opened July 2002 at 3 Charlotte Road,

, in a four-story Victorian warehouse, away from the

gallery, which represents

Tracey Emin Dame Tracey Karima Emin (; born 3 July 1963) is an English artist known for autobiographical and confessional artwork. She produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, Neon lighting, neon text ...

and

, conceptual art which the Stuckists oppose.Alberge, Dalya. "Artists brandish brushes at rivals", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 20 July 2002, p. 3. Onlin
reprint
retrieved 17 February 2008. Thomson lived on the premises, using the ground floor and basement for a studio. He said: :The space was designed to fulfill the belief stated in our manifesto that the best space for art is not a white wall gallery but the more human space of a home (or a musty museum). The main space was my living room. It had sofas and normal home lighting, not gallery spotlights, which create a separation between the art and the viewer. People could come in, sit down, maybe have a cup of tea and experience the art as part of their environment, if they wanted to. The upstairs walls were either brick or painted maroon, and the downstairs a deep green. It was a small oasis in the greyness of the outside environment...

Stephen Howarth Stephen Purbeck Howarth (born 23 July 1981), known as S.P., is a poet, Stuckism, Stuckist artist and actor. He was expelled from college for his paintings. He has Stuckist demonstrations, demonstrated against the Turner prize at the Tate galler ...

was a member of the Students for Stuckism group at Camberwell College of Arts and in 2002 was "expelled from the painting course for doing paintings."Buckman, David: "Dictionary of Artists in Britain since 1945", page 775. Art Dictionaries, 2006 He was given a show, before the official opening of the gallery, with the title ''I Don't Want a Painting Degree if it Means Not Painting''. Stuckism International Gallery 2003

To celebrate the opening of the gallery, the Stuckists carried a cardboard coffin round to the nearby

gallery to announce "The Death of Conceptual Art".Barr, Damian
"Follow me to the edge: Cool in your code, Hoxton"
''

'', 9 February 2007. Retrieved 12 September 2009. Stuckists Death of Conceptual Art demo

This event also launched the first formal group show at the gallery which was ''The First Stuckist International''. The show had Stuckist art from around the world including Melbourne, Pittsburgh and the Ivory Coast. It ran till October 2002, reinforcing the Stuckist manifesto endorsement of content, meaning and communication through painting as the most viable contemporary form of art. David Prudames of 24 Hour Museum reviewed the show, "This exhibition of Stuckist work from around the world at a purpose built gallery lays the movement's foundations and states it is here to stay." ''Arty'' magazine edited by Cathy Lomax of Transition Gallery said, "Work presented here is always a wonder to behold... The best painted space in town—the coloured walls are themselves better than some galleries' shows... Art with attitude, whatever style you happen to enjoy. And there are more styles here than you'd be led to believe." However, Sarah Kent stated in '' Time Out'', "it will prove their undoing. These vociferous opportunists are revealed to be a bunch of

Bayswater Road Bayswater Road is the main road running along the northern edge of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park in London. Originally part of the A40 road in London, A40 road, it is now designated part of the A402 road. Route In the east, Bayswater Road ...

-style daubers without an original idea between them."Kent, Sarah. "The Stuckists: Stuckism International", '' Time Out'' (London), 7 August 2002, p.60. Reprin
online
retrieved 12 September 2009. In October 2002 the Gallery displayed a betting slip by Sean Hall. This was a bet that "Charles Saatchi, the renowned contemporary art collector, will purchase the original of this betting slip for pounds 1,000 or more on or before 31 December 2005." In December 2002 the gallery staged ''The Real Turner Prize Show'' to protest that the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...

should be for paintings. The four artists shown at the gallery— Ella Guru,

Mandy McCartin Mandy McCartin (born 10 April 1958) is an English artist based in London, a "proud butch lesbian" and DJ "classic soul fanatic". Life and work Mandy McCartin was born in Sheffield, England, and went to North East London Polytechnic (now the ...

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...

and Charles Williams—shared the Stuckist prize. On 17 April 2003, when the Saatchi Gallery opened in new premises at County Hall with a display of

's work, including '' The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living'' (a shark in

formaldehyde Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is an organic compound with the chemical formula and structure , more precisely . The compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde. It is stored as ...

in a vitrine), the Stuckism gallery displayed a stuffed shark in their window. This 148 kg (325 lb) golden hammerhead shark had been caught off Florida in 1989, two years before Hirst's work was made, by Eddie Saunders, who displayed it in his Shoreditch shop, JD Electrical Supplies. Alberge, Dalya
"Traditionalists mark shark attack on Hirst"
''

'', 10 April 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2008. Thomson asked: :If Hirst’s shark is recognised as great art, then how come Eddie’s, which was on exhibition for two years beforehand, isn’t? "Do we perhaps have here an undiscovered artist of genius, who got there first, or is it that a dead shark isn’t art at all? Not only did Eddie catch it himself — unlike Hirst — but it is also in considerably better condition. :We can’t see why Hirst’s shark was made so much fuss of when Eddie’s has been in a public London venue all this time. A lot of people admired it in his shop, but I doubt that anyone considered it a work of artistic genius. The Stuckists suggested Hirst may got the idea for his work from Saunders' shop display."A Dead Shark Isn't Art" on the Stuckism International web site
Retrieved 20 March 2006 In September 2003, the gallery collaborated with the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

in hosting a charity show and auction with paintings including ones by

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actors, she is noted for her versatility, having appeared in films and television, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage ...

, Jerry Hall and, said Thomson, "a painting from the

BritArt The Young British Artists, or YBAs—also referred to as Brit artists and Britart—is a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London in 1988. Many of the YBA artists graduated from the BA Fine Art course at Goldsm ...

artist

Gavin Turk Gavin Turk (born 1967) is a British artist from Guildford in Surrey, and was considered to be one of the Young British Artists. Turk's oeuvre deals with issues of authenticity and identity, engaged with modernist and avant-garde debates surround ...

, who is normally somebody we would attack." The next month, the gallery's scheduled show, ''The Real Turner Prize Show'', was cancelled because of a dispute with Gina Bold, one of the artists, over how it should be promoted. In February 2004, the gallery exterior was turned into a 1960s and 1970s sex shop frontage as a set for the BBC2 gangster drama, ''The Long Firm'' (based on the book by Jake Arnott). In May 2004, Mounsi was presented with the inaugural 3AM Good Sex Prize at the gallery for his book, ''The Demented Dance'', after an event which included readings by Tony White and

Colin MacCabe Colin Myles Joseph MacCabe (born 9 February 1949) is an English academic, writer and film producer. He is currently a distinguished professor of English and film at the University of Pittsburgh.

. Later that month,

and his wife,

Nigella Lawson Nigella Lucy Lawson (born 6 January 1960) is an English food writer and television cook. After graduating from Oxford, Lawson worked as a book reviewer and restaurant critic, later becoming the deputy literary editor of ''The Sunday Times'' in ...

arrived in a black cab to visit the gallery, but failed to gain admission, as Thomson was upstairs drinking coffee and Saatchi did not ring the bell. The last exhibition at the Gallery, in July 2004, was a solo show, ''Hysterical Shock'', consisting of 12 paintings by Gina Bold from private collections and named after the title of one of them. It was curated by Louise Urwin and Tom Cowley. Bold was invited to participate in the show, but did not reply or attend it.

La Viande

2005 Painting is the Medium of Yesterday

Thomson moved in 2005 and the premises were taken over by La Viande gallery, which staged a Stuckist exhibition in September 2005, called ''"Painting Is the Medium of Yesterday"—Paul Myners CBE, Chairman of Tate Gallery, Chairman of Marks and Spencer, Chairman of Aspen Insurance, Chairman of Guardian Media, Director of Bank of England, Director of Bank of New York. A Show of Paintings by the Stuckists, as Refused by the Tate Gallery. Guaranteed 100% Free of Elephant Dung.''"Some past exhibitions"
La Viande. Retrieved from

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

, 12 September 2009. A large photo was displayed in the gallery window of Paul Myners, who had made the remark, "Painting is the medium of yesterday", to the Stuckists during their demonstration in 2004 against the

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

."Cityspy", ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'', p.26, 4 October 2005. He had also told them that their popular show, ''

The Stuckists Punk Victorian ''The Stuckists Punk Victorian'' was the first national gallery exhibition of Stuckist art.Moss, Richard"Stuckist's Punk Victorian gatecrashes Walker's Biennial Culture24, 17 September 2004. Retrieved 3 December 2009. It was held at the Walker A ...

'' at the

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History The Walker Art Gallery's collection dates from 1819 ...

in Liverpool, was "a travesty". In February 2008, La Viande staged ''Disney Heroines Committing Suicide'', a show of two Stuckist artists, Abby Jackson and

Mark D Mark D, born Mark Randall,Deedes, Henry ''The Independent'', 13 February 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008. is a British punk musician (guitarist and songwriter). He is also associated with the Stuckist group of artists. Mark D was born and spen ...

, the latter's work satirising Stella Vine's paintings.Deedes, Henry
"Vine's Stuckist rival sticks one on her at exhibition"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 13 February 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008. La Viande closed in July 2008."La Viande: Gallery"
La Viande. Retrieved 15 November 2008.

List of shows

Group Shows *''The First Stuckist International'' *''War on Blair'' *''The Real Turner Prize Show 2002'' *''Stuckist Classics..'' *''Stuckist Classics 2'' *''Stuckist Classics 3'' *''The Stuckist Summer Show 2003'' *''Kith and Kids'' charity show included work by Ella Guru,

Charles Thomson (artist) Charles Thomson (born 6 February 1953) is an English artist, poet and photographer. In the early 1980s he was a member of The Medway Poets. In 1999 he named and co-founded the Stuckism, Stuckists art movement with Billy Childish. He has curated ...

, Jane Kelly, Gina Bold, Adrian Bannister, Jerry Hall, Elizabeth Jagger,

Richard Rogers Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was a British-Italian architect noted for his modernist and constructivist designs in high-tech architecture. He was the founder at Rogers Stirk Harbour + ...

, Keith Coventry and Jon Moss *''Cabinet of Conceptualism'' featured a brick by Mike Dawson and a Saatchi betting slip by Sean Hall. *''The Real Turner Prize Show 2003 (cancelled)'' Solo shows *''A Dead Shark Isn't Art'', Eddie Saunders *''Intellectual Property'', photos by Larry Dunstan *''The Vagina Monologues Of An Essex Boy'', David Beesley *''Portraits of Leigh Bowery'' by Sexton Ming *''The Pinhole Photography of a Gifted Gentleman Amateur'', Wolf Howard *''Being On The Dole Is Like Playing Chess with Hitler'', Wolf Howard *''Hysterical Shock'', Gina Bold Other *'' 3:AM Magazine Good Sex Prize'', presented by Madame Tytania (with whip)

Gallery

Image:2002 I Don't Want a Painting Degree.jpg, ''I Don't Want a Painting Degree if it Means Not Painting'',

, June 2002 Image:2002 First Stuckist International (1).jpg, ''The First Stuckist International'', July 2002 Image:2002 First Stuckist International (2).jpg, ''The First Stuckist International'', July 2002 Image:2002 Real Turner Prize Show (2).jpg, ''The Real Turner Prize Show 2002'', December 2002 Image:2003 Stuckists Summer Show (1).jpg, ''The Stuckists Summer Show'', June 2003 Image:2003 The Pinhole Photography.jpg, ''The Pinhole Photography of a Gifted Gentleman Amateur'', Wolf Howard, October 2003 Image:2004 3am Good Sex Prize.jpg, '' 3:AM Magazine'' ''Good Sex Prize'', July 2004 Image:2004 Hysterical Shock.jpg, ''Hysterical Shock'', Gina Bold, July 2004

References

External links

Stuckism International Gallery Archive

Stuckism International Online Gallery

* ttps://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/longfirm/ ''The Long Firm'' on the BBC web site {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuckism International Gallery Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hackney Defunct contemporary art galleries in London 2002 establishments in England 2005 disestablishments in England Stuckism Art museums and galleries established in 2002 Art museums and galleries disestablished in 2005