When I was painting this image, a forerunner of my Bestiary series, I was somewhat obsessed with the idea representing the uterus-it was important that the animal be female. Later I found out the hippopotamus was an ancient Egyptian fertility symbol. A grinning gift from the collective unconscious, a rubenesque mammal wading in the milky sea.
I discovered the art movement Remodernism when I came across the online posting of the manifesto written by Charles Thomson and Billy Childish. Here were some artists who articulated what I was feeling, identifying problems in the art world and describing the way forward. This was what first made me realize I was not alone in my frustration and disgust, that others around the world felt the same way I did-and what’s more, they were doing something about it.
-Richard Bledsoe
REMODERNIST MANIFESTO
Through the course of the 20th century Modernism has progressively lost its way, until finally toppling into the pit of Postmodern balderdash. At this appropriate time, The Stuckists, the first Remodernist Art Group, announce the birth of Remodernism.
1-Remodernism takes the original principles of Modernism and reapplies them, highlighting vision as opposed to formalism.
2-Remodernism is inclusive rather than exclusive and welcomes artists who endeavor to know themselves and find themselves through art processes that strive to connect and include, rather than alienate and exclude. Remodernism upholds the spiritual vision of the founding fathers of Modernism and respects their bravery and integrity in facing and depicting the travails of the human soul through a new art that was no longer subservient to a religious or political dogma and which sought to give voice to the gamut of the human psyche.
3-Remodernism discards and replaces Post-Modernism because of its failure to answer or address any important issues of being a human being.
4-Remodernism embodies spiritual depth and meaning and brings to an end an age of scientific materialism, nihilism and spiritual bankruptcy.
5-We don’t need more dull, boring, brainless destruction of convention, what we need is not new, but perennial. We need an art that integrates body and soul and recognizes enduring and underlying principles which have sustained wisdom and insight throughout humanity’s history. This is the proper function of tradition.
6-Modernism has never fulfilled its potential. It is futile to be ‘post’ something which has not even ‘been’ properly something in the first place. Remodernism is the rebirth of spiritual art.
7-Spirituality is the journey of the soul on earth. Its first principle is a declaration of intent to face the truth. Truth is what it is, regardless of what we want it to be. Being a spiritual artist means addressing unflinchingly our projections, good and bad, the attractive and the grotesque, our strengths as well as our delusions, in order to know ourselves and thereby our true relationship with others and our connection to the divine.
8-Spiritual art is not about fairyland. It is about taking hold of the rough texture of life. It is about addressing the shadow and making friends with wild dogs. Spirituality is the awareness that everything in life is for a higher purpose.
9-Spiritual art is not religion. Spirituality is humanity’s quest to understand itself and finds its symbology through the clarity and integrity of its artists.
10-The making of true art is man’s desire to communicate with himself, his fellows and his God. Art that fails to address these issues is not art.
11-It should be noted that technique is dictated by, and only necessary to the extent to which it is commensurate with, the vision of the artist.
12-The Remodernist’s job is to bring God back into art but not as God was before. Remodernism is not a religion, but we uphold that it is essential to regain enthusiasm (from the Greek, en theos to be possessed by God).
13-A true art is the visible manifestation, evidence and facilitator of the soul’s journey. Spiritual art does not mean the painting of Madonnas or Buddhas. Spiritual art is the painting of things that touch the soul of the artist. Spiritual art does not often look very spiritual, it looks like everything else because spirituality includes everything.
14-Why do we need a new spirituality in art? Because connecting in a meaningful way is what makes people happy. Being understood and understanding each other makes life enjoyable and worth living.
Summary-It is quite clear to anyone of an uncluttered mental disposition that what is now put forward, quite seriously, as art by the ruling elite, is proof that a seemingly rational development of a body of ideas has gone seriously awry. The principles on which Modernism was based are sound, but the conclusions that have now been reached from it are preposterous. We address this lack of meaning, so that a coherent art can be achieved and this imbalance redressed. Let there be no doubt, there will be a spiritual renaissance in art because there is nowhere else for art to go. Stuckism’s mandate is to initiate that spiritual renaissance now.
-Billy Childish/Charles Thomson 1.3.2000
Imagine Yoko Was An Artist…I Wonder If You Can
Yoko Ono originally gained notoriety as a member of the Fluxus art movement of the swinging 60’s. As part of the establishment’s on-going mission to remove concerns like technical prowess and coherence from art, Fluxus was celebrated as a Dada do-over, yet another challenge to the stuffy idea that art involves the skillful creation of a tangible object.
In addition to promoting conceptual art, the Fluxus community was identified by founder George Maciunas as a radical leftwing movement, dedicated to spawning art communes modeled after the glorious collectivist farms of the Soviet Union. When attempted, these ventures predictably failed to thrive.
Yoko made a name for herself with pieces like Cut, a performance where she invited the audience to strip her naked by strategically snipping off her clothes. Once she caught the eye of activist Beatle John Lennon, Yoko was able to withdraw to a comfortable life of privilege, far removed from the strains involved in creating artworks like Apple (an apple placed on a box-when it rots away, it is replaced with another apple. Repeat indefinitely).
Yoko added her avante-garde vocal stylings to Lennon’s recordings, wailing like Woody Woodpecker hammering away at John Cage’s skull, while occasionally referencing her past artistic triumphs (limited edition bronze Apple, anyone?) But one can’t coast on reputation forever, so in the the spirit of mushy multicultural Londonistan’s take on the Olympics, Yoko has been trotted out as a Post Modern Old Master.
Her new work “To The Light” consists mainly of three heaps of dirt, a faded vintage War Is Over poster, and lots of hype around the empty slogan “Imagine Peace,” which is conveniently available on commemorative towels and water bottles .
One can only wonder if the victims of Soviet collectivism are part of the fallen she is so hamfistedly homaging.
“The history of modern art is also the history of the progressive loss of art’s audience. Art has increasingly become the concern of the artist and the bafflement of the public.” – Henry Geldzahler
Accurate summation by a notable curator, historian, and critic. As artists we have become guilty by association with masses of meaningless dreck being passed off as art. The audience is baffled because they intuitively recognize art has gone wrong. It’s time to stop all the relativism-the mushy morass of subjectivity that is used like a weapon against quality.
There is Truth, there is Beauty, there is Excellence. Artists above all need to commit to higher standards for themselves and the works their peers. Remodernism is about leaving behind the lax sensibilites of Establishment Art, and making a stand for principles.
remodernamerica.com 