"Lost Near Hanmer" (oil on gesso on board) by John Bourne
An exhibition of 10 paintings on the theme of Human Spirit by the Stuckist artist John Bourne, held at the wonderful Canfas Gallery, Cardigan. The paintings were hung in an arrangement which shows them off to the very best advantage. There is an accompanying coil-bound A4 booklet printed using lulu.com, which records examples of Human Spirit witnessed by the artist in chronological order, starting with childhood in the Yorkshire Dales and progressing to the present day in Wrexham and London. The world-wide Stuckist movement is not lacking in Human Spirit itself!
Stuckism started with an insult, in which the conceptual artist Tracey Emin accused her artist boyfriend Billy Childish of being stuck (presumably because he was still painting, instead of producing installations, performances and videos). Childish must have decided he was happy being stuck because, together with Charles Thomson, he founded the Stuckists. The term Stuckism was coined by Thomson from a reference to the insult in Childish's poem.
Stuckists are in favour of creating conceptual art through the medium of figurative painting. They believe that self-discovery and the sharing of experience are more important than cleverness and career advancement and are prepared to risk failure in their effort to express themselves. The creation of a work of art involves all possible aspects of art, with a finished product that is radically different from the materials employed.
The Stuckist believes that Modern Art has lost its way and needs to recapture its original spiritual meaning.