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.
The Stuckists had previously been seen as art world outsiders, but with the backing of a West End gallery in a "major exhibition"[1] became "major players" in the art world.[2] Ten leading Stuckist artists were exhibited.[3]
Royden Prior, the director of Spectrum London, said, "These artists are good and are part of history. Get past the art politics and look at the work."[4][5]
Stuckism has gained so much fame from its demonstrations and media campaigns that its real purpose is in some danger of being overshadowed. That purpose is perfectly obvious – to make art, and to have it seen and discussed without preconceptions, in a perfectly normal and rational fashion.[6]
Rachel Campbell-Johnston, art critic of The Times, condemned the work as "empty of anything much" and "formulaic".[7] Nevertheless, Thomson's and Joe Machine's paintings sold out, before the show opened, to buyers from the UK, Japan and the US.[8]
It was suggested that the exhibition of Thomson's painting, Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions Decision, satirising Sir Nicholas Serota, displayed in the gallery window (see image above), could be seen as revenge for the Tate's rejection of a Stuckist donation of 175 paintings the previous year.[2]
Thomson was also accused of revenge for exhibiting two paintings of strippers, which he said were based on his ex-wife and one-time stripper, Stella Vine. She was briefly a member of the Stuckists group at the time of their marriage in 2001, but has since attracted solo attention. Rivalry increased when her work was promoted by Charles Saatchi in 2004.[1] Thomson denied any intention of vengeance with the paintings and said that "I would prefer her to enjoy these, as I still enjoy her art".[9]
Michael Dickinson, a Stuckist from Istanbul, was a guest artist at the show with a folder of collages.[10] He had recently been released from ten days in a Turkish jail without charge after exhibiting Good Boy, a collage of the Turkish prime minister, Tayyip Erdoğan as a dog.[11]
^ abBarnes, Anthony (2006) "Portrait of an ex-husband's revenge" The Independent on Sunday. Retrieved 9 October 2006, from findarticles.com
^ abTeodorczuk, Tom (2006) "Modern art is pants" 2009-06-17 at the Wayback MachineEvening Standard, 22 August 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2006 from thisislondon.co.uk.
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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 Spectrum London gallery September 2006 during the Stuckists Go West show Contents 1 Show 2 Controversy 3 Artists in the show 4 See also 5 Notes and references 6 External linksShow Edit nbsp Exhibiting artist Ella Guru is interviewed at Spectrum London gallery during the show by Richard Quest of CNN International The Stuckists had previously been seen as art world outsiders but with the backing of a West End gallery in a major exhibition 1 became major players in the art world 2 Ten leading Stuckist artists were exhibited 3 Royden Prior the director of Spectrum London said These artists are good and are part of history Get past the art politics and look at the work 4 5 Art critic Edward Lucie Smith wrote in an essay for the show Stuckism has gained so much fame from its demonstrations and media campaigns that its real purpose is in some danger of being overshadowed That purpose is perfectly obvious to make art and to have it seen and discussed without preconceptions in a perfectly normal and rational fashion 6 Rachel Campbell Johnston art critic of The Times condemned the work as empty of anything much and formulaic 7 Nevertheless Thomson s and Joe Machine s paintings sold out before the show opened to buyers from the UK Japan and the US 8 Exhibition dates October 6 November 4 2006 Controversy Edit nbsp Charles Thomson Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions Decision nbsp Charles Thomson Stripper It was suggested that the exhibition of Thomson s painting Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions Decision satirising Sir Nicholas Serota displayed in the gallery window see image above could be seen as revenge for the Tate s rejection of a Stuckist donation of 175 paintings the previous year 2 Thomson was also accused of revenge for exhibiting two paintings of strippers which he said were based on his ex wife and one time stripper Stella Vine She was briefly a member of the Stuckists group at the time of their marriage in 2001 but has since attracted solo attention Rivalry increased when her work was promoted by Charles Saatchi in 2004 1 Thomson denied any intention of vengeance with the paintings and said that I would prefer her to enjoy these as I still enjoy her art 9 Michael Dickinson a Stuckist from Istanbul was a guest artist at the show with a folder of collages 10 He had recently been released from ten days in a Turkish jail without charge after exhibiting Good Boy a collage of the Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan as a dog 11 Artists in the show EditCharles Thomson Joe Machine Paul Harvey Ella Guru Peter McArdle Philip Absolon Bill Lewis Wolf Howard Eamon Everall Elsa DaxGuest artistMichael DickinsonSee also EditStuckism Stuckist demonstrations The Stuckists Punk Victorian Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions DecisionNotes and references Edit a b Barnes Anthony 2006 Portrait of an ex husband s revenge The Independent on Sunday Retrieved 9 October 2006 from findarticles com a b Teodorczuk Tom 2006 Modern art is pants Archived 2009 06 17 at the Wayback Machine Evening Standard 22 August 2006 Retrieved 9 October 2006 from thisislondon co uk Go West The Daily Telegraph Retrieved 29 March 2008 The first West End show for the Stuckists Archived 2007 09 29 at the Wayback Machine saatchi gallery co uk Retrieved 9 October 2006 Stuckists art group in major show BBC online August 23 2006 Retrieved October 9 2006 Lucie Smith Edward 2006 Stuckism Archived 2006 12 21 at the Wayback Machine spectrumlondon co uk Retrieved 9 October 2006 Campbell Johnston Rachel 2006 How the Turner Prize lost the plot The Times online 3 October 2006 Retrieved 9 October 2006 Gleadell Colin 2006 Market news Roger Hilton s child like drawings stuckist paintings and Edward Seago The Daily Telegraph online 3 October 2006 Retrieved 9 October 2006 Thomson Charles 2006 Paint Stripper Letters p 40 The Independent on Sunday 10 September 2006 Michael Dickinson Stuckist artist jailed in Turkey for a collage now free See his work at Go West stuckism com Retrieved October 9 2006 Keeping Turkey out of the EU Video interview with Michael Dickinson on More 4 channel4 com Retrieved October 9 2006External links EditGo West on Spectrum London official site Stripper and Strip Club paintings by Charles Thomson bottom of page Stuckism official site Britart critics get West End show the New Zealand Herald Is being naive the result of naivete artshub co uk Slide show of work on telegraph co uk 51 31 10 N 0 8 28 W 51 51944 N 0 14111 W 51 51944 0 14111 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Go West exhibition amp oldid 1129118485, 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