Stephen Howarth | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Stephen Purbeck Howarth 23 July 1981 |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Painting, poetry and theatre |
| Movement | Stuckism |
Stephen Purbeck Howarth (born 23 July 1981), 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.
Stephen Howarth was born in Lewisham, London and educated at St Christopher School, Letchworth. He is severely dyslexic. [1] In 2000, he attended Camberwell College of Arts and was in the Students for Stuckism group. [2] In 2002, he was "expelled from the painting course for doing paintings." [2] He said:
The incident was reported in The Times with the headline "Art students accuse college of failing to teach them the basics". [3] Other students supported him and there were also letters of support in the newspaper.
Howarth was then given the inaugural show at the Stuckism International Gallery in Shoreditch, with the title I Don't Want a Painting Degree if it Means Not Painting. He was in the first group show at the gallery, The Stuckists First International, and subsequent shows.
Sarah Kent in Time Out called his painting, Midnight in the hotel Suburbia, "soft porn". [4] He responded that it was "hard porn".
After college he worked in a gallery, bar and factory, and as a labourer. [2] He founded the Balham Stuckists group and also the South London Stuckism International Centre. [2]
In 2001, he demonstrated with the Stuckists in Trafalgar Square during the unveiling of Rachel Whiteread's sculpture, Monument, and was in the Stuckist demonstration outside Tate Britain against the Turner Prize.
In 2003, he took part in a debate on Sky News with Richard Littlejohn about the £12,000 public funding given to artist Andre Stitt, who proposed to kick an empty takeaway container along Bedford High Street. Howarth's work was part of the donation of Stuckist paintings offered to the Tate Gallery in 2005, which the Tate rejected.
Group shows include Seven New Artists Pay Their Respects to Past Masters (2001) at the Fridge Gallery, Brixton; Umpapa (2001), Tap Collective, Clapham; Rivington Gallery Artists (2002), Rivington Gallery, Hoxton; Stuckism Group Show (2003), Wednesbury Museum, West Midlands; [2] also at Black Spot, Clapham; Ace of Clubs, Clapham; Worthing Library; and Newcastle Arts Centre. He was in the first national museum show of the Stuckists, The Stuckists Punk Victorian , at the Walker Art Gallery during the 2004 Liverpool Biennial. Stella Vine, who was then a member of the Stuckists, bought one of his paintings at the Fridge Gallery.
He commented on his work:
It's a shameless obsession with sex and violence, because they're the physical manifestations of love and hate, which are the strongest emotions. It's analysing the theatre of conflict and erotica through the fantasies and daydreams of a proud outsider, who would be unable to relate to the 'real world' even if he wanted to.
He is not himself a violent person. [1]
He is also a performance poet, and a Shortfuse Poetry Idol Competition winner. [5] As well as a number of other slam titles including "Bard of Brixton." Is estimated to have performed at over a hundred venues in the U.S. and U.K. His publications of poetry are Poet, Painter, Pervert (Coffin Press) and Noteless Nocturnes to the Never-Ending Night (Coffin Press) (both, now out of print).
Howarth has worked as an actor in theatre productions, including Midsummer Night's Dream , A Comedy of Errors , and the rock musical Rasputin Rocks!, for which he was a co-writer with Andrew Hobbs, Lucyelle Cliffe and Alistair Smith. These were produced by Facsimile Productions. In the summer 2009 Howarth collaborated again with Andrew Hobbs of Facsimile Productions in writing a new play entitled Bacchus in Rehab. The play made its world premiere at the Etcetera Theatre in London, with Howarth cast in the title role and Anton Shelupanov in the role of Hades. Additionally Howarth co-wrote and starred in a short film, An Angry Young Man, and his poem A Brief History of south east England was used in a short film of the same name. Both can be seen on YouTube.
He has recently posed for a series of paintings by the artist Richard Bagguley. [6]
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| Wikimedia | |
Artists' names in italics indicate artists no longer in the movement (as of November 2011) | |
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.
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.
William Lewis is an English artist, story-teller, poet and mythographer. He was a founder-member of The Medway Poets and of the Stuckists art group.
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.
Joe Machine is an English artist, poet and writer. He is a founding member of the Stuckists art group.
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."
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.
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.
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.
Elsa Dax is a French painter and a member of the Stuckists art movement. Major themes in her work are myth, legend and fairytale.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Abby Jackson is a British artist, Stuckist painter, writer and art activist.
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.
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.
The A Gallery was a contemporary art gallery in Wimbledon, London run by Fraser Kee Scott.
