Abby Jackson

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Abby Jackson
Photograph of Abby Jackson.jpg
Born1982
Education Somerset College of Art
Known for Painting
Movement Stuckism

Abby Jackson (born 1982) is a British artist, Stuckist painter, writer and art activist.

Contents

Life and work

Abby Jackson was born in North Devon and lives and works in London. She attended Somerset College of Art and studied advertising. In 2002, as an act of rebellion during her last year at the college, she made a large painting Foreign Policy 2000 of President Bush's head on top of a bare breasted dominatrix whipping Tony Blair on all fours. [1] The college threatened to fail her, but finally gave her a pass degree. [1]

In 2005, Jackson joined the international Stuckism movement [2] founded by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson in 1999 to promote painting and oppose conceptual art. [3] She phoned Thomson "out of the blue" about a year after leaving college, where she had been told about the Stuckists in a visual culture lecture . [1] Her work was in the Stuckist show, "Painting is the Medium of Yesterday" Paul Myners, at La Viande gallery in Shoreditch in September 2005.

In 2006, she supported the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) campaign for artists resale rights, taking part in a protest in Whitehall in January, and being one of the four artist representatives to present the petition to 10 Downing Street. [4] She criticised David Hockney and other artists, who were opposed to the threshold being lowered to encompass emerging artists. [5] In a letter in The Times , she said, "A Bill like this will encourage young artists to keep going, even when they can’t afford a studio or a takeaway at the weekend. I don’t want money to go towards a lavish wedding, I need it to continue painting." [6]

Foreign Policy 2000 by Abby Jackson, one of the images recreated in State Britain Abby Jackson. Foreign Policy 2000.jpg
Foreign Policy 2000 by Abby Jackson, one of the images recreated in State Britain

Jackson's college painting, Foreign Policy 2000, had been exhibited after her graduation in the Wellington Club in London, where it was approved by both Arab clientele and Damien Hirst, a friend of the club owner. [1] It was then stored under Jackson's bed, until her admiration for Brian Haw's Parliament Square peace protest display motivated her in 2006 to donate it to him. [1] Most of Haw's display, including her painting and other art work (one by Banksy), was later removed by the Metropolitan Police in a dawn raid.

Jackson's painting was then copied by Mark Wallinger as part of his recreation of Haw's display; the recreation was exhibited as an installation, State Britain , which opened in January 2007 at Tate Britain [7] and won the Turner Prize later that year. [8] Jackson commented:

State Britain is a true metaphor of conceptual art, as it's fake. I feel that I and the other people who contributed to Brian's display are the original artists. [9]

In 2006 she instigated and co-curated the first show of artists from the Saatchi Yourgallery website, Lost and Found: this took place at the Brick Lane Gallery in East London. [10]

Death on the Rocks by Abby Jackson Abby Jackson. Death on the Rocks.jpg
Death on the Rocks by Abby Jackson

Her writing has been published in The Face , The Hospital and Ditched. In "Still Life v Real Life" in Aesthetica , she contrasted the different responses of Stuckist artist Wolf Howard and Luc Tuymans to the subject of 9/11: "Tuymans chooses to avoid his subject matter, whereas Howard, as a Stuckist, approaches his subject head on." [11]

She said of her own work:

I've taken elements from the childhood fairy tale and the contemporary fairy tale of the celebrity lifestyle, merging the two ideas into work such as Death of the Rocks, which portrays the Disney Little Mermaid slitting her wrists. [4]

She has had solo shows at the Adam Street Gallery and Diorama Gallery, and group shows by West Eleven Gallery, Artshole, Wimbledon Art Studios, Islington Arts Fair, Stephen Lawrence Gallery (in association with BBC Africa 05), and Peace Camp (curated by Bob and Roberta Smith). In February 2008, she is staging a joint exhibition, called Disney Heroines Committing Suicide, with Mark D at La Viande gallery in Shoreditch, London. [12]

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">Turner Prize</span> Annual prize presented to a British visual artist

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. The prize is awarded at Tate Britain every other year, with various venues outside of London being used in alternate years. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the UK's most publicised art award. The award represents all media.

<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">Stella Vine</span> English artist

Stella Vine is an English artist, who lives and works in London. Her work is figurative painting, with subjects drawn from personal life, as well as from rock stars, royalty, and other celebrities.

<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">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">Wolf Howard</span> English painter

Wolf Howard is an English artist, poet and filmmaker living in Rochester, Kent and was a founder member of the Stuckists art group. He is also a drummer who has played in garage and punk bands, currently as a member of The Musicians of the British Empire (MBE's) with Billy Childish.

<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">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">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">Mark D</span> British artist and musician

Mark D, born Mark Randall, is a British punk musician. He is also associated with the Stuckist group of artists. Mark D was born and spent his childhood in Peterborough. He now lives in Nottingham.

<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">Regan Tamanui</span> Australian artist

Regan Tamanui is an artist based in Melbourne, Australia. In October 2000, he founded the Melbourne Stuckists, the fourth Stuckist of the original Stuckist groups and the first outside the United Kingdom. He has also painted prolifically as a street artist under the tag name HA-HA.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Howarth</span> English painter

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State Britain</span>

State Britain is an installation artwork by Mark Wallinger displayed in Tate Britain in January 2007. It is a recreation from scratch of a protest display about the treatment of Iraq, set up by Brian Haw outside Parliament and eventually confiscated by the police. Haw's display contained several hundred items donated by members of the public. As well as continuing the protest, Wallinger's recreation in a different context also brings up questions of authenticity. Wallinger won the Turner Prize in 2007 for this piece.

<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.

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

The Stuckism International Gallery was the gallery of the Stuckist art movement. It was open from 2002 to 2005 in Shoreditch, and was run by Charles Thomson, 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 gallery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Gallery</span>

The A Gallery was a contemporary art gallery in Wimbledon, London run by Fraser Kee Scott.

References

The Best Fucking Mascara Ever by Abby Jackson TheBestFuckingMascaraEver500.jpg
The Best Fucking Mascara Ever by Abby Jackson
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 LeKay, John. "Interview with Abby Jackson", Heyokamagazine. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
  2. "Stuckism International: Stuckist groups", Stuckism.com. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
  3. "Glossary: Stuckism" Archived 2011-08-02 at the Wayback Machine , Tate. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
  4. 1 2 Abby Jackson on stuckism.com
  5. Arts Hub 15 January 2006
  6. Jackson, Abby. "Paint it back", The Times , p.16, 25 January 2006.
  7. "Mark Wallinger: State Britain" Archived February 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine , Tate. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
  8. Higgins, Charlotte. "Bear man walks away with Turner Prize", The Guardian , 3 December 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
  9. Marre, Oliver (2007) "Serota sticks it up the Stuckists" Archived April 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine , The Observer , 20 May 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
  10. "Brick Lane gallery". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  11. Aesthetica magazine no. 36, 2006
  12. "Disney Heroines Committing Suicide", La Viande. Retrieved 13 February 2008.