Remodernism
Remodernism is a philosophical art movement launched in 2000 by Stuckist founders Billy Childish and Charles Thomson, whose manifesto Remodernism called for a new spirituality in art to replace what they saw as postmodernism's cynicism and spiritual bankruptcy. Looking back to the early modernists' faith in authenticity, self-expression and the hand-made object, it proposes the revival of painting as a forward, not nostalgic, step. The idea spread quickly: a 2002 remodernism show in Albuquerque was accompanied by an essay from UC Berkeley art professor Kevin Radley, and in 2006 the Stedelijk Museum and the University of Amsterdam hosted a discussion of remodernist tendencies that framed the return of painting as a recovery of modernist autonomy against multimedia practice. Critics have since applied the term to contemporary painters reviving direct, sincere, figurative work.
Defining characteristics
- Direct, hand-made figurative painting as the core medium
- Rejection of postmodern irony in favor of sincerity, emotion and spiritual content
- Revival of early-modernist handling: expressionist brushwork, bold outlines, color carrying feeling
- Narrative and symbolic subject drawn from everyday and inner life
- Commitment to the art object over multimedia spectacle and conceptual apparatus
Key figures
- Billy Childish (b. 1959) — Painter, writer and musician who co-founded Stuckism and co-authored the Remodernism manifesto
- Charles Thomson (b. 1953) — Artist who named and co-founded Stuckism and co-authored the Remodernism manifesto
Example works
- Remodernism (manifesto) — Billy Childish and Charles Thomson (2000)
Sources
- Remodernism - Wikipedia encyclopedia