Genres

Genres: CoBrA

Richard Bledsoe Commentary, Genres, History, Quotes

CoBrA was an art movement that was named for the cities it originated in: Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam. 

After the horrors of World War II, a group of northern Europeans banded together to promote their vision of art with a series of exhibits, publications, and collaborations.  As a movement they existed for a few years in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

CoBrA favored expressionist painting techniques, spontaneity and experimentation. Inspired by the art of children, primitives, and the insane, they sought a kind of populism where art was made by and for everyone.

While their methods may leave their art crude and unresolved, their sense of art as a universal form of communication runs counter to the ever-present elitist tendencies that marginalize art in mass culture.

“Creation and revolutionary struggle have the same objective: the realization of life.” – Constant

Video: How Stuckism Got Its Name

Richard Bledsoe Commentary, Culture War, Establishment, Genres, History, Remodernism, Stuckism, Video

Remodernism grew out of a painterly art movement called Stuckism.

Like many art movements, the name of Stuckism grew out of an attempted criticism.

The Stuckists have generated much attention and controversy by their willingness to tackle art world dogma and celebrity worship. Stuckism is a much more recognizable “brand name” in the insular world of art, compared to the more generalized term of Remodernism.

Both movements were founded by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson, artists of great vision and integrity. They were able to precisely articulate the failings of establishment art, and suggest constructive alternatives.

Genres: Symbolism

Richard Bledsoe Commentary, Genres, History, Influences, Remodernism, Richard Bledsoe

An overview of Symbolist Art

Before I found a contemporary guiding philosophy in Remodernism, I recognized in my work shared concerns with the Symbolist painters of the late 1800s-early 1900s.

The spiritual aspects of light, darkness and color. Acceptance of gods, monsters and the grotesque as worthy explorations for art. A mystical sense of purpose. Deep order. Intense emotions. All these elements continue in my work.

Remodernism as a force of integration of all previous eras of modern art supports my continued explorations.