The Romantic Anonymous Fellowship was founded by the Stuckist painter Odysseus Yakoumakis in September 2004, as the first, and currently the only, Greek group of Stuckism International. It has an international membership.
The Romantic Anonymous Fellowship was founded by the Stuckist painter Odysseus Yakoumakis in September 2004, as the first, and currently the only, Greek group of Stuckism International. It has an international membership.
Odysseus Yakoumakis discovered Stuckism in July, 2004, while surfing the net, and saw in it an antidote to what he deems "the ailments of the contemporary Greek 'artscape'". [1] He contacted Charles Thomson, the London founder of Stuckism, and a few days later founded The Romantic Anonymous Fellowship. He conceived this as a "Greek version of Stuckism, an antidote to contemporary Greek art's provincialism, sectarianism and servile importation of post-modernism". He developed the concept of "Romantic Stuckism", that is of "Stuckism with a good injection of Eleatic and Platonic philosophy, oriented rather towards encouraging each artist to pursue his/her genuinely personal artistic vision rather, than towards pointless polemics against the reactionary official art-establishment". He published the first two Romantic Stuckist theoretical texts on the Fellowship's website.
At that stage he was the Fellowship's only fellow and, as far as he knew, the only artist in Greece aware of the Stuckist movement. He contacted other fine artists in Athens, but described the reactions he got as "ranging from a tepid 'academic curiosity' to a sheer lack of interest or even, occasionally, to a politely concealed hostility." He was however contacted by artists from overseas and accepted them into the Fellowship. The first to apply was Ian J. Burkett, a painter living in London and founder of the Ealing Stuckists group. Shortly after, followed the painter and etcher Ilania Abileah from Canada, and the painter and etcher Anthe (who is of Greek descent) from the US.
Yakoumakis determined that Stuckism should, nevertheless, be brought "in the flesh" before the eyes of the Greek fine arts community, and organised the first Stuckist event in Greece, titled Under the Cover of Romantic Anonymity, announced for May 14 of 2010 at the Ash-In-Art Gallery, Athens, Greece.
In parallel with the show, the new book by Odysseus Yakoumakis will be featured, titled "Leaflets from the Wilderness (a case study about the artscape in nouveau-Greece and many other lands)" (Ash-In-Art Publications).
Stuckist artists taking part include:
Guest artists participating are:
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.
Remodernism is an artistic and philosophical movement aimed at reviving aspects of modernism, particularly in its early form, in a manner that both follows after and contrasts against postmodernism. The movement was initiated in 2000 by stuckists Billy Childish and Charles Thomson, with a manifesto, Remodernism in an attempt to introduce a period of new "spirituality" into art, culture and society to replace postmodernism, which they said was cynical and spiritually bankrupt. In 2002, a remodernism art show in Albuquerque was accompanied by an essay from University of California, Berkeley art professor, Kevin Radley. Adherents of remodernism advocate it as a forward and radical, not reactionary, impetus.
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.
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.
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.
Ella Guru is an American painter and musician living in Hastings, East Sussex, England. She was a member of Mambo Taxi and the Voodoo Queens. In 1999, she became one of the founding members of the Stuckist art movement.
David Lee is an outspoken English contemporary art critic—condemning conceptual art in general and the Turner Prize in particular. He publishes and edits The Jackdaw magazine, critical of the contemporary art world.
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.
Godfrey Blow is a British-born contemporary artist based in Kalamunda, Western Australia. A painter whose work is inspired by myths and mythical landscapes, he founded the Perth Stuckists in 2003.
Elsa Dax is a French painter and a member of the Stuckists art movement. Major themes in her work are myth, legend and fairytale.
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.
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.
An art manifesto is a public declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of an artist or artistic movement. Manifestos are a standard feature of the various movements in the modernist avant-garde and are still written today. Art manifestos are sometimes in their rhetoric intended for shock value, to achieve a revolutionary effect. They often address wider issues, such as the political system. Typical themes are the need for revolution, freedom and the implied or overtly stated superiority of the writers over the status quo. The manifesto gives a means of expressing, publicising and recording ideas for the artist or art group—even if only one or two people write the words, it is mostly still attributed to the group name.
Naive John 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.
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.
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.
Stephen Purbeck Howarth, known as S.P., is a poet, Stuckist artist and actor. He was expelled from college for his paintings. He has demonstrated against the Turner prize at the Tate gallery.
Abby Jackson is a British artist, Stuckist painter, writer and art activist.
Contemporary Greek art is defined as the art produced by Greek artists after World War II.
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Artists' names in italics indicate artists no longer in the movement (as of November 2011) | |
