Naive John

Last updated

Naive John
Born
Ian Wylie

(1962-10-18) 18 October 1962 (age 61)
NationalityBritish
Known for Painting
Movement Stuckism

Naive John (born Ian Wylie; 18 October 1962) is a British artist and figurative painter. His work shows attention to detail with subjects that combine elements from popular culture alongside the mythic and mundane. He has also in the past been involved in the Stuckism art movement.

Contents

Art

Naive John is a self-taught artist. Early work like The Blue Man (1988) with its use of flattened space and cartoon imagery predates Lowbrow art and Pop Surrealism and is indicative of the artist's maverick approach to art production. His current paintings combine mythological, surreal and popular images juxtaposed with Liverpool's urban setting. They often refer to concerns for the environment with a humorous element. The painting Sefton Park Genetically Modified is a good example of the issues the artist has explored. In other paintings figures are shown in isolation and appear pensive and alienated from the rest of society. The relationship between the difficulty facing ordinary human beings making moral choices when they have to face hostile environmental factors is portrayed in Toxteth Cherub. [1]

A new commission The Chav-ant Garde sees the artist returning to his pop culture roots. The painting is at once a depiction of the artist's dysfunctional family and a satire on media manipulated public outrage based around the stereotype of the chav. The family members are derived from the popular children's television series Teletubbies and In The Night Garden.

Naive John works very slowly, late at night, producing an average of three paintings a year. He uses water-based oil paints and his paintings are built up in layers using a variety of techniques: old master's Flemish methods, digital manipulation, sgraffito, rubbing with fingers, wiping paint off with a kitchen towel and other innovative methods. [1]

His work is represented in private and public collections, including the Hunterian Museum, Scotland and the Roberts Institute of Art.

Life

Naive John was born Ian Wylie in Poole, Dorset, his family moving to Glasgow when he was two years of age. He attended Cumbernauld High School, Glasgow 197379. During the period 197983 he took part in a youth training scheme, where amongst other things he played cards. In 1983 he was accepted without academic qualifications as an exceptional student at Greys School of Art, Aberdeen, but was later expelled. Within two years he had sold a painting Yellow Envy to Edwin Morgan, Scotland's Poet Laureate and won an award for his short experimental animation film Phobia. In 1998 he fled to Liverpool after a homophobic knife attack. Intensive psychotherapy followed during 1998 in an attempt to come to terms with his past traumatic experiences. [1] He has since been diagnosed with dysthymia. Throughout his periods of illness he continued to produce drawings and paintings albeit in limited numbers. Ex-Vaselines front woman Frances McKee commissioned the artist to create several CD covers for her band Suckle.

In 2003 he started a BA (Hons) Art History course at Liverpool John Moores University, where he won the Susan Cotton Travel Scholarship. He adopted the name Naive John in 2004 and founded the Liverpool Stuckist group. He adopted the pseudonym Naive John as a means of distancing himself from mainstream artistic concerns of being "relevant", "fashionable" and "cutting edge". In 2004 his work was included in The Stuckists Punk Victorian show at the Walker Art Gallery during the 2004 Liverpool Biennial. This exhibition was a definitive showing of the Stuckist oeuvre at a national gallery and marked a key point in the development of the art movement. In October 2006 he curated and exhibited in Triumph of Stuckism. His painting The Other was the central image featured on promotional literature and attracted the attention of influential collector David Roberts. In 2007 Naive John was invited to exhibit his work as part of the Fellow Travellers touring group exhibition at Salford Museum alongside Holly Johnson and BP Portrait Award winner Sadie Lee. Salford Museum commissioned the artist in 2008 to produce public art to display on billboard spaces in Salford as part of Walkabout; a joint project with The Lowry. He exhibited in the Fellow Travellers show which took place in Korpfulstadir, Reykjavík, Iceland July 2008.

Triumph of Stuckism

At the invitation of Professor Colin Fallows, Chair of Research at Liverpool School of Art and Design, Naive John led The Triumph of Stuckism, an international symposium on Stuckism announced for October 2006 at the Liverpool John Moores University during the Liverpool Biennial, along with an accompanying exhibition in the 68 Hope Gallery at Liverpool School of Art and Design (John Moores University Gallery). The title of the symposium is a reference to the Triumph of Painting shows staged in 2005 by Charles Saatchi, and according to The Independent newspaper, "Charles Saatchi is about to become the latest victim of a critical mauling from the people of Liverpool", whose "finest academics are meeting to slag off the secretive collector." It marks a new step for the artists: "The Stuckists have gained some academic credibility after being dismissed as a media freak-show." [2]

Naive John chaired the symposium, which was announced as a day of illustrated lectures, presented by leading Stuckist artists and independent art historians. Booked speakers included: Guy Denning, Paul Harvey, Jacqueline Jones, Bill Lewis, Charles Thomson and Odysseus Yakoumakis. John also curated the exhibition of Stuckist paintings. The event was part of the programme of the 2006 Liverpool Biennial, and followed the Stuckist show at the 2004 Liverpool Biennial. Artists exhibiting in the 2006 show included Philip Absolon, Godfrey Blow, John Bourne, Jaime Braz, Guy Denning, John Geggie, Ella Guru, Paul Harvey, Naive John, Jacqueline Jones, Peter Klint, Bill Lewis, Mike Mayhew, Jesse Richards, Kim Richardson, Mary Von Stockhausen, Charles Thomson and Odysseus Yakoumakis.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuckism</span> International art movement

Stuckism is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting as opposed to conceptual art. By May 2017 the initial group of 13 British artists had expanded to 236 groups in 52 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Thomson (artist)</span> English artist, poet and photographer

Charles Thomson 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 Stuckists art movement with Billy Childish. He has curated Stuckist shows, organised demonstrations against the Turner Prize, run an art gallery, stood for parliament and reported Charles Saatchi to the OFT. He is frequently quoted in the media as an opponent of conceptual art. He was briefly married to artist Stella Vine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Absolon</span> British artist

Philip Absolon is a British artist and a founder member of the Stuckists art group, exhibiting in the group shows, including The Stuckists Punk Victorian at the Walker Art Gallery in 2004, and taking part in Stuckist demonstrations against the Turner Prize. He has had long-term unemployment problems, depicted in his work with imagery of skeletons; his other main subject is cats, which he studies and depicts in motion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Marks</span> American painter

Terry Marks is a Stuckist artist in New York City. She was one of the US artists in the show The Stuckists Punk Victorian at the Walker Art Gallery during the 2004 Liverpool Biennial. She is also a tattooist and actor for film and television. Terry is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Machine</span> English artist, poet and writer

Joe Machine is an English artist, poet and writer. He is a founding member of the Stuckists art group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Harvey (artist)</span> English musician and artist

Paul Arthur Harvey is a British musician and Stuckist artist, whose work was used to promote the Stuckists' 2004 show at the Liverpool Biennial. His paintings draw on pop art and the work of Alphonse Mucha, and often depict celebrities, including Madonna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse Richards</span> American painter

Jesse Beau Richards is a painter, filmmaker and photographer from New Haven, Connecticut and was affiliated with the international movement Stuckism. He has been described as "one of the most provocative names in American underground culture," and "the father of remodernist cinema."

<i>The Stuckists Punk Victorian</i> 2004 art exhibition in Liverpool, England

The Stuckists Punk Victorian was the first national gallery exhibition of Stuckist art. It was held at the Walker Art Gallery and Lady Lever Art Gallery in Liverpool from 18 September 2004 to 20 February 2005 and was part of the 2004 Liverpool Biennial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eamon Everall</span> English Stuckist artist and educator

Eamon Everall is an English artist and educator. He was one of the 12 founder members of the Stuckists art group. He paints in a "neo-cubist" style, with subjects from life worked on over a long period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Bourne (artist)</span> British artist and painter

John Bourne is a British artist and painter, living and working in Wales, and a member of the Stuckists art movement. He founded the Wrexham Stuckists group in 2001 and has been exhibited in the group's shows since then, including The Stuckists Punk Victorian. He has also taken part in Stuckist demonstrations against the Turner Prize. The subject matter for his paintings, which are done in a simplified style, comes from his memories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Godfrey Blow</span>

Godfrey Blow is an artist based in Kalamunda, Western Australia. He is the founder of the Perth Stuckists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elsa Dax</span> French painter

Elsa Dax is a French painter and a member of the Stuckists art movement. Major themes in her work are myth, legend and fairytale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Williams (artist)</span> British artist

Charles Williams is a British artist. He is a founding member of the Stuckist art group and a member of the New English Art Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuckism in Australia</span>

Stuckism is an art movement that began in London, England, in 1999. In 2000, Melbourne artist Regan Tamanui started the first international branch of the movement. As of 2010, there are seven Australian Stuckist groups, who have held shows—sometimes concurrently with UK activities—received coverage in the Australian press and on TV, and also been represented in UK shows. The Stuckists take a strong pro-painting and anti-conceptual art stance, and were co-founded by Charles Thomson and Billy Childish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuckist demonstrations</span> Art group activities

Stuckist demonstrations since 2000 have been a key part of the Stuckist art group's activities and have succeeded in giving them a high-profile both in Britain and abroad. Their primary agenda is the promotion of figurative painting and opposition to conceptual art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuckism in the United States</span>

The Stuckism art movement was started in London in 1999 to promote figurative painting and oppose conceptual art. This was mentioned in the United States media, but the first Stuckist presence in US was not until the following year, when former installation artist, Susan Constanse, founded a Pittsburgh chapter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuckist photographers</span>

Stuckist photographers develop the values of the Stuckism art painting movement into film and photography. Some of them are in a group called the Stuckist Photographers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odysseus Yakoumakis</span>

Odysseus Yakoumakis is a Stuckist artist, painter and illustrator, based in Athens, Greece. He is the founder of the first Greek Stuckist group, The Romantic Anonymous Fellowship, and organiser of the first international Stuckist group show in Greece, Under the Cover of Romantic Anonymity. He was a scheduled speaker at the first Stuckist international symposium, The Triumph of Stuckism, in England. He practises martial arts and he is currently studying traditional engraving.

<i>Go West</i> (exhibition)

Go West is the title of the first exhibition by Stuckist artists in a commercial London West End gallery. It was staged in Spectrum London gallery in October 2006. The show attracted media interest for its location, for the use of a painting satirising Sir Nicholas Serota, Director of the Tate gallery, and for two paintings of a stripper by Charles Thomson based on his former wife, artist Stella Vine.

<i>Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions Decision</i> 2000 painting by Charles Thomson

Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions Decision is one of the paintings that was made as a part of the Stuckism art movement, and is recognized as a "signature piece" for the movement, It was painted by the Stuckism co-founder Charles Thomson in 2000, and has been exhibited in a number of shows since, as well as being featured on placards during Stuckist demonstrations against the Turner Prize.

References

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 Milner p.126
  2. "Hughes gets involved in another gay party affair" The Independent, 14 April 2006 (pay to view rest of article). Retrieved 18 April 2006