Charles Thomson (born 6 February 1953) is an English artist, poet and photographer. In the early 1980s he was a member of

The Medway Poets The Medway Poets were founded in Medway, Kent, in 1979. They were an English punk based poetry performance group and later formed the core of the first Stuckists Art Group. The members were Miriam Carney, Billy Childish, Robert Earl, Bill Lewis ...

. 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 The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award) ...

, 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 Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

. He was briefly married to artist

Stella Vine Stella Vine (born Melissa Jane Robson, 1969) is an English artist, who lives and works in London. Her work is figurative painting, with subjects drawn from personal life, as well as from rock stars, royalty, and other celebrities. In 2001, she ...

Early life

Charles Thomson was born in

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, and educated at Brentwood School, Essex, where he was a classmate of

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' developed into a " ...

. While still at school, he organised mixed media arts events and contributed to ''Broadsheet'', a magazine edited by

Paul Neil Milne Johnstone Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

and published by ''Artsphere'', a school arts group. Outside school, he started the Havering Arts Lab. this resulted in a headline "Sex Orgy Tale—Group Banned" in the local ''Havering Express'' newspaper. In 1970 he produced a satirical magazine, called 'Lubricant', which ran for 10 issues. In 1971 he stood (unsuccessfully) as a Dwarf candidate in the Havering council elections, and was involved in anti-pollution protests. He distributed "

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

" magazines around London, including " Schoolkids OZ". In 1975 he went to

Maidstone College of Art The Kent Institute of Art & Design (KIAD, often ) was an art school based across three campuses in the county of Kent, in the United Kingdom. It was formed by the amalgamation of three independent colleges: Canterbury College of Art, Maidstone Col ...

, where he was the only person in ten years to fail the painting degree. 1979–87 he worked part-time as a telephonist and receptionist at Kent County Ophthalmic and Aural Hospital. 1987–99 he was a full-time poet, with work in over 100 anthologies.Milner, Frank, ed., ''The Stuckists Punk Victorian'', p. 106,

National Museums Liverpool National Museums Liverpool, formerly National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, comprises several museums and art galleries in and around Liverpool, England. All the museums and galleries in the group have free admission. The museum is a non ...

, 2004,

The Medway Poets

In 1979, Thomson was a founder member of

, a punk performance group, who read in pubs, as well as the Kent Literature Festival and the 1981 international

Cambridge Poetry Festival The Cambridge Poetry Festival, founded by Richard Berengarten (also known as Richard Burns), was an international biennale for poetry held in Cambridge, England, between 1975–1985. The festival was founded in an attempt to combine as many aspe ...

. There were, however, personality clashes in the group, particularly between Billy Childish and Thomson, who said, "There was friction between us, especially when he started heckling my poetry reading and I threatened to ban him from a forthcoming TV documentary." However, a TV South documentary on the group in 1982 brought them to a wider regional audience. According to Childish: "Me & Charles were at war from 1979 until 1999. He even threatened having bouncers on the doors of Medway poet’s readings to keep me out." Thomson has said this period was "an incredibly pressured and creative time and established the basis on which we are still working." Other members included future Stuckist artists

Bill Lewis William Lewis (born 1 August 1953) is an English artist, story-teller, poet and mythographer.Milner, Frank, ed. ''The Stuckists Punk Victorian'', p. 86, National Museums Liverpool 2004, . Pages 6–30, Charles Thomson's essay, "A Stuckist on ...

and Sexton Ming.

Tracey Emin Tracey Karima Emin, CBE, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, neon text and ...

, then a local student, was on the outskirts of the group, being the girlfriend of Billy Childish. In 1987 Thomson printed her first book of writing, ''Turkish Tales'', which had been edited by Lewis and was published by Childish.Milner p. 8

Stuckism

In 1999 Thomson was reconciled with Childish and together they founded the Stuckists art group with eleven other artists. Thomson coined the name "Stuckism" after an insult from Tracey Emin to ex-boyfriend Childish that he was "stuck", which Childish had recorded in a 1993 poem. The group stated its aims as promoting

figurative painting Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real object sources and so is, by definition, representational. The term is often in contrast to abstract ...

and opposing conceptual art, being particularly critical of the

and Charles Saatchi's promotion of

Britart The Young British Artists, or YBAs—also referred to as Brit artists and Britart—is a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London in 1988. Many of the YBA artists graduated from the BA Fine Art course at Goldsm ...

. Childish left the group in 2001 and Thomson remained as the figurehead, gaining extensive media coverage for his activities and outspoken views. In the meantime the Stuckists grew to a worldwide movement of over 100 groups in 30 countries. From 2000 to 2005 he staged yearly Stuckist demonstrations against the

(making use of props such as clown costumes and blow-up sex dolls). He stood in the 2001 United Kingdom general election, as a Stuckist candidate against the then-

Culture Secretary The secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department f ...

, Chris Smith. The same year he exhibited the then-unknown artist,

(later made famous by Charles Saatchi). The couple married in New York and separated after two months. Thomson opened the Stuckism International Gallery in

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...

(2002–2005). In 2004 he reported Saatchi to the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) for alleged unfair trading practices in the art world: the complaint was not upheld. He co-curated the Stuckists' first major exhibition in a public gallery,

The Stuckists Punk Victorian ''The Stuckists Punk Victorian'' was the first national gallery exhibition of Stuckist art.Moss, Richard"Stuckist's Punk Victorian gatecrashes Walker's Biennial Culture24, 17 September 2004. Retrieved 3 December 2009. It was held at the Walker A ...

show at the

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

, for the 2004

Liverpool Biennial Liverpool Biennial is the largest international contemporary art festival in the United Kingdom. Every two years, the city of Liverpool hosts an extensive range of artworks, projects, and a programme of events. The biennial commissions leading ...

. In 2005 he offered of a donation of 175 paintings by Stuckists artists from the Walker Gallery show to the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

: this was rejected by the trustees. Later that year he obtained, under the

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act * ...

, Tate Gallery minutes about the purchase of a trustee

Chris Ofili Christopher Ofili, (born 10 October 1968) is a British Turner Prize-winning painter who is best known for his paintings incorporating elephant dung. He was one of the Young British Artists. Since 2005, Ofili has been living and working in Trin ...

's work ''

The Upper Room The Cenacle (from the Latin , "dining room"), also known as the Upper Room (from the Koine Greek and , both meaning "upper room"), is a room in Mount Zion in Jerusalem, just outside the Old City walls, traditionally held to be the site of t ...

''. This led to an ongoing press controversy about the purchase and resulted in an official investigation by the

Charity Commission , type = Non-ministerial government department , seal = , seal_caption = , logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg , logo_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , ...

, who censured the Tate in July 2006 for acting outside its legal powers. In June 2006 he wrote to the British Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

asking him to intervene in the case of Stuckist artist Michael Dickinson, who was facing a possible 3-year jail sentence in Turkey for exhibiting a satirical collage of the Turkish Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

."Blair asked to help artist facing jail"
''The Sunday Times'', 11 June 2006. Retrieved 12 June 2006"Erdoğan'ı kızdıran kolaj için Blair devreye girdi"
''Vatan'' (in Turkish), 12 June 2006. Retrieved 12 June 2006 In October 2006, Thomson exhibited paintings and presented an academic paper in both the Triumph of Stuckism exhibition and symposium respectively . Both these events were organised by

Naive John Naive John (born Ian Wylie; 18 October 1962) is a British artist and figurative painter. His work shows attention to detail with subjects that combine elements from popular culture alongside the mythic and mundane. He has also in the past been ...

for the 2006 Liverpool Biennial at the invitation of Professor Colin Fallows, Chair of Contextual Studies at

Liverpool School of Art and Design The John Lennon Art and Design Building (formerly the Art and Design Academy) in Liverpool, England, houses Liverpool John Moores University's School of Art and Design. The school was formerly located at the Grade II listed Liverpool College of ...

. He writes a regular arts column for 3:AM Magazine, which carries work by a number of Stuckists, ex-Stuckists and their opponents.

Stella Vine

Charles Thomson was briefly married in 2001 to artist

. She met ThomsonJanuszczak, Waldemar
"The Paint Stripper"
''The Sunday Times'', 10 June 2007. Retrieved 12 December 2008. on 30 May 2001 at the private view of the ''Vote Stuckist'' show in Brixton, where she accepted his invitation to form The Westminster Stuckists group and to exhibit some of her paintings publicly for the first time in the show.Thomson, Charles (August 2004), "A Stuckist on Stuckism: Stella Vine", from: Ed. Frank Milner (2004), ''The Stuckists Punk Victorian'', p. 23,

, . Essay text available on line a
stuckism.com.
/ref> On 10 July, she renamed her group The Unstuckists. Thomson and Vine had a two-month relationship and they married on 8 August 2001 in New York. The next day, Vine said she wanted a divorce; they had an intense row.Deveney, Catherine
"Stripped bare"
''Scotland on Sunday'', 14 March 2004. Retrieved 17 December 2008. She left him and they did not meet again until a week later."Trouble and strife", ''Evening Standard'' (London), p. 12, 20 August 2001. Vine said she could not cope with his

controlling behaviour Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controllin ...

. The marriage ended in 2001 after about two months.Barber, Lynne
"Vine Times"
8 July 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2009. They were granted a divorce in October 2003.Billen, Andrew
"I Made More Money As A Stripper..."
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 15 June 2004. Retrieved 9 December 2008. In February 2004, after Vine "rose to fame after being championed by Charles Saatchi",Akbar, Arifa
"Autism charity attracts titans of the art world"
''The Independent'', 22 October 2007. Retrieved 18 December 2008. Thomson said that he was pleased that she had got success, but it was he and the Stuckists, not Saatchi, who had "discovered" Vine.Alleyne, Richard

'

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 24 February 2004. Retrieved 9 December 2008. Vine said that Stuckism was a misogynistic cult, that she had quickly realised that the marriage and the Stuckist group were not right for her,"The Money Issue: answer the questions! Stella Vine – Princess Diana, Prozac and private views"
''The Independent on Sunday'', 7 March 2004. Retrieved 18 December 2008. and that her marriage to Thomson was "an utter disaster". During the relationship Thomson had paid off Vine's debts of £20,000, and Vine said she married him because this had been a condition of his funding her: "I couldn't face stripping any more and it was too bloody good to turn down." Thomson said that they had a business arrangement to promote themselves as an art couple, there was no condition of marriage, and that she was "really selling herself short" by saying that was her motivation.Johnston, Ian. "Former husband of artist Vine denies paying her to marry him", ''Scotland on Sunday'', 21 March 2004. Retrieved 18 December 2008. In March 2004, Vine said that she had only seen Thomson once, in an art shop, in the previous two years. She later told ''The Times'' that it was "impossible to explain"Malvern, Jack. "Saatchi dragged into artists' dispute", ''

'' (print edition), 5 April 2004. why she married Thomson, that he didn't "give a s*** about art or the Stuckist movement", and that he saw her as a means of gaining his own publicity: "When I met him and he saw some of my history, he saw dollar signs. He is a very exploitative man." In June 2007, Vine said that the marriage was consummated in 2001, a few weeks after the ceremony—"I owed him that"—and Thomson then paid off her debts of £20,000, after which "I've never seen him again." On 28 March 2004, Thomson reported Saatchi to the

Office of Fair Trading The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic ...

(OFT) for alleged breaches of the Competition Act and cited as an example Saatchi's promotion of Vine, a situation which made the row "more bitter".Stummer, Robin
"Charles Saatchi 'abuses his hold on British art market'"
''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'', 28 March 2004. Retrieved 17 December 2008. The OFT said they did not "have reasonable grounds to suspect that Charles Saatchi is in a dominant position in any relevant market", which Thomson said was "just another cruel smack in the face" for Saatchi.Thomson, Charles (August 2004), "A Stuckist on Stuckism: Charles Saatchi and the OFT attack", from: Ed. Frank Milner (2004), ''The Stuckists Punk Victorian'', p. 23,

, . Available online a
stuckism.com
In September 2004, Vine threatened suicide if her work was included in

show at the

, and the owner of the painting withdrew it. In October 2006, The Stuckists held a group show, '' Go West'', at

Spectrum London Spectrum London was a London art gallery which showed contemporary figurative painting, photography and sculpture. It staged '' Go West'', the first commercial West End show of the Stuckists, and a retrospective by Sebastian Horsley. It closed ...

gallery, including two of Thomson's paintings, ''Stripper'' and ''Strip Club'', "explicit images of his ex-wife." Thomson said the works would make Vine "pissed off",Barnes, Anthony
"Portrait of an ex-husband's revenge: The vicious feud between artists Charles Thomson and his former wife, Stella Vine, has spilled over on to canvas."
''The Independent'', 3 September 2006. Retrieved 18 December 2008. but that she had painted images that were far more upsetting for people, that he would prefer her to enjoy them as he did her art and that they were painted as a catharsis not as an attack. Vine said she had no comment. In July 2007, at the same time as the opening of Vine's major solo show at

Modern Art Oxford Modern Art Oxford is an art gallery established in 1965 in Oxford, England. From 1965 to 2002, it was called The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford. The gallery presents exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. It has a national and internationa ...

, Thomson, furious at Vine's refusal to acknowledge her debt to the Stuckists,Moody, Paul
"Everyone's talking about Stella Vine"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 12 July 2007. Retrieved 9 December 2008. held a rival Stuckist show at the

A Gallery The A Gallery was a contemporary art gallery in Wimbledon, London run by Fraser Kee Scott. Founding The A Gallery was founded by Fraser Kee Scott in 1997.Groves, Nancy"The science of art" Newsquest, 13 April 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2008. ...

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, ''I Won't Have Sex with You as Long as We're Married'', which Vine apparently said to him on their wedding night. In September, Thomson wrote in ''

The Jackdaw ''The Jackdaw'' is a British arts magazine, published since 2000 in London, United Kingdom. History and profile ''The Jackdaw'' was founded by art critic David Lee in 2000. He is also the editor of the magazine, which is critical of the art wor ...

'', criticising the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

gallery for not having work by a number of figurative painters, among whom he listed Vine, and said she should have been one of that year's

nominees for her show at

''Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions Decision''

His satirical painting of Sir Nicholas Serota, ''

Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions Decision ''Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions Decision'' is one of the paintings that was made as a part of the Stuckism art movement,Cripps, Charlotte"Visual arts: Saying knickers to Sir Nicholas ''The Independent'', 7 September 2004. Retrieved fr ...

'', has been widely reproduced in the media and become a Stuckist icon. It has been reviewed: However, Sarah Kent (a staunch advocate of Britart) was less impressed with the satire: "One might forgive his puerile humour if Thomson didn't consider it a serious weapon ... cut the ranting and Thomson could be a reasonable painter." Thomson pointed out in response, "it's reality. A few weeks after I did the painting, Tracey Emin was shown on TV getting very angry about an installation because someone had substituted another pair of knickers for hers ... That makes it a bit sad." In October 2006, Thomson's painting of Serota was exhibited during the Stuckists' '' Go West'' show at

gallery in London. It was suggested that this could be seen as revenge for the Tate's rejection of a Stuckist donation of 175 paintings the previous year.Teodorczuk, Tom (2006
"Modern art is pants"
''Evening Standard'', 22 August 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2006.

Art technique

Thomson typically paints figuratively with black outlines and areas of flat colour, often brightly coloured. The painting, ''I Feel Bad When I Reject Your Love'' is not typical in this respect. He said: :Based on something a (now ex) girlfriend said to me. I thought it was a negative picture, but then I realised it was positive because it’s a reconciliation after self-knowledge. It’s also ambiguous as to who’s speaking. Most of my paintings are based on experiences with people I know, usually on a drawing from life, but in this case from a photo I took of her. The paintings are based on spontaneous line drawings with a black wax crayon in a sketchbook. These are enlarged on the canvas. The colour is usually the first one on the canvas, though mixing it can take up to an hour. He likens colour to feeling and concludes, "The final image is a synthesis of material, emotional and spiritual experience."

Gallery

Image:Charles Thomson. Everyone Called Smith.jpg, ''Everyone Called Smith in the Barnet Phone Book 1998–1999'' Image:Charles Thomson. Woman in New York (Stella Vine Honeymoon 2001).jpg, ''Woman in New York (Stella Vine Honeymoon 2001)'' Image:Charles Thomson. A Single Woman in London.jpg, ''A Single Woman in London is Never More than Six Inches Away from the Nearest Rat'' Image:Charles Thomson. Oxana.jpg, ''Oxana'' Image:Charles Thomson. Salvator Rosa.jpg, ''Salvator Rosa (after Salvator Rosa)'' Image:Charles Thomson. Woman in Black Hat With Yellow Mug.jpg, ''Woman in Black Hat with Yellow Mug'' Image:Charles Thomson. Woman with a Turquoise Face.jpg, ''Woman with a Turquoise Face'' Image:Charles Thomson. Artist and Model.jpg, ''Artist and Model (after Picasso)''

References

External links

2007 Interview with "the thing is..." magazine

2006 interview
with Brian Sherwin for Myartspace {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Charles 1953 births Living people 20th-century English painters English male painters 21st-century English painters People from Romford Alumni of the University for the Creative Arts Stuckism English contemporary artists 20th-century English male artists 21st-century English male artists