Jesse Richards (born July 17, 1975) is a painter, filmmaker and photographer from

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

and was affiliated with the international movement

Stuckism Stuckism () is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting as opposed to conceptual art."The Movie Can Be Made Another Way"
iNews.bg. Retrieved September 5, 2012. and "the father of remodernist cinema."
SofiaLive. Retrieved September 5, 2012.

Early life

Jesse Richards was born in New Haven. He had an ambition to be a forest ranger during his teens, which was also the time he started to make films. He studied film production at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, which he left after a nervous breakdown.Milner, Frank (2004). ''The Stuckists Punk Victorian'', p. 132.

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 ...

, He directed plays including ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' and ''

Look Back In Anger ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet i ...

'' for the New Haven Theatre Company, and made short

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

films. In 1999, Richards was arrested for reckless burning, destruction of property and disorderly conduct. After the charges were dropped, he began painting.

Stuckism

Richards is affiliated with the

Stuckist Stuckism () is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting as opposed to conceptual art. In 2003, an anti-war "Clown Trial of President Bush" took place outside the New Haven Federal Courthouse, in order to "highlight the fact that the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

does not have the support of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, thus violating a binding contract with the UN". It was staged by local Stuckist artists dressed in clown costume, led by Richards with

Nicholas Watson Nicholas Watson (born July 9, 1977) is a social entrepreneur based in Pennsylvania, USA. He was previously a producer and writer in film and television. He co-founded the New Haven Stuckist art group. Social Enterprise career Nicholas Watson ...

and Tony Juliano. One of the participants was a public defender for the state of Connecticut."Clown Trial of President Bush"
stuckism.com. Retrieved March 27, 2006. Simultaneously the Stuckism center opened a ''War on Bush'' show, including work from Brazil, Australia, Germany and the UK, while the London equivalent staged a ''War on Blair'' show.
stuckism.com, 2003. Retrieved March 27, 2006. Richards said the original intention of a straightforward art show to an anti-war show had been changed after a phone discussion with Stuckism founder,

Charles Thomson Charles Thomson (November 29, 1729 – August 16, 1824) was an Irish-born Patriot leader in Philadelphia during the American Revolution and the secretary of the Continental Congress (1774–1789) throughout its existence. As secretary, Thomson ...

. Richards told ''

The Yale Herald ''The Yale Herald'' is a newspaper run by undergraduate students at Yale University since 1986. A weekly, the paper aims to provide in-depth, investigative reporting, and includes personal essays, interviews, opinion pieces, culture articles, revi ...

'', "

Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

would go over to the

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...

and he would say, 'This is crap,' and he would go paint a picture.""Stuckists scoff at 'crap' war"
, ''

'', March 28, 2003. Retrieved March 27, 2006. Also in 2003, Richards was an exhibitor in the UK show, ''Stuck in Wednesbury'' at

Wednesbury Wednesbury () is a market town in Sandwell in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame. Historically part of Staffordshire in the Hundred of Offlow, at the 2011 Census the town had a population of ...

Museum & Art Gallery, the first Stuckist show in a public gallery,"Archive: Diary"
stuckism.com. Retrieved on August 20, 2009. and in ''The Stuckists Summer Show'' at the

Stuckism International Gallery The Stuckism International Gallery was the gallery of the Stuckist art movement. It was open from 2002 to 2005 in Shoreditch, and was run by Charles Thomson, the co-founder of Stuckism. It was launched by a procession carrying a coffin marked ...

, London. In 2004, Richards was one of eight artists in the "International Stuckists" section of ''

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 ...

"International Stuckists"

. Retrieved August 20, 2009. during the

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 ...

. He said of his exhibited work, ''Nightlife'': "This came out of heavy drinking and loneliness. New Haven's social scene is entirely going to bars, so it was my only way to meet new people." Joe Machine, My Grandfather Will Fight You

Joe Machine, My Grandfather Will Fight You

Richards reviewed the Biennial and the Stuckist show, where he found

Joe Machine Joe Machine (born Joseph Stokes,Buckman, David (2006), ''Dictionary of Artists in Britain since 1945'', p. 1018, Art Dictionaries, Bristol, 2006, 6 April 1973) is an England, English artist, poet and writer. He is a founding member of the Stuck ...

's ''My Grandfather Will Fight You'', "one of the best Stuckist paintings. Machine's work is the epitome of raw, real expressive painting."Richards, Jesse
"Liverpool Biennial: Stuck In Liverpool"
''NYArts'', November/December 2004. Retrieved August 20, 2009. He said that Stuckist Photographer Andy Bullock's work was "silly installation photography" which was "trying to be trendy." In 2005, 160 paintings from the Walker Art Gallery show, including one by Richards, were offered as a donation to 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, but rejected by

Sir Nicholas Serota Sir Nicholas Andrew Serota, (born 27 April 1946) is an English art historian and curator, who served as the Director of the Tate from 1988 to 2017. He is currently Chair of Arts Council England, a role which he has held since February 2017. Se ...

, because "We do not feel that the work is of sufficient quality in terms of accomplishment, innovation or originality of thought to warrant preservation in perpetuity in the national collection".Alberge, Dalya
"Tate rejects £500,000 gift from 'unoriginal' Stuckists"
''

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 ...

'', July 28, 2005. Retrieved February 1, 2008. In 2005, Richards was a co-ordinator of, and participated in, ''Addressing the Shadow and Making Friends with Wild Dogs: Remodernism'', the first

Remodernism Remodernism revives aspects of modernism, particularly in its early form, and follows postmodernism, to which it contrasts. Adherents of remodernism advocate it as a forward and radical, not reactionary, impetus. In 2000, Billy Childish and Charle ...

exhibition in the US to include work from all of the Remodernist groups, including the Stuckists, the Defastenists, Remodernist Film and Photography, and Stuckism Photography."Addressing the Shadow and Making Friends with Wild Dogs: Remodernism"
stuckism.com, 2005. Retrieved on August 20, 2009 from the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

of August 3, 2005. The show took place at the

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

313 gallery. In 2006, Richards was one of the artists in ''The Triumph of Stuckism'', a show at

Liverpool John Moores University , mottoeng = Fortune favours the bold , established = 1823 – Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts1992 – Liverpool John Moores University , type = Public , endowment = , coor ...

Hope Street Gallery, curated 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 ...

at the invitation of Professor Colin Fallows, Chair of Research at Liverpool School of Art and Design, and part of the Liverpool Biennial 2006. Richards left the Stuckist movement in 2006. Sherwin, Brian
"Art Space Talk: Jesse Richards"
Myartspace, November 24, 2006. Retrieved May 4, 2008.

Shows

Stuckist group shows organized or featuring work by Richards include: * 2002 ''We Just Wanna Show Some Fucking Paintings'' –

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

* 2003 ''War on Bush'' – New Haven * 2003 ''Stuck in Wednesbury'' –

* 2003 ''The Stuckists Summer Show'' –

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

* 2004 ''

'' –

* 2004 ''The Stuckists Punk Victorian In the Toilet'' – New Haven * 2005 ''Addressing the Shadow and Making Friends with Wild Dogs: Remodernism'' –

* 2006 ''The Triumph of Stuckism'' – Liverpool Biennial

Film and photography

Richards has worked on films with Nicholas Watson since 1996."Home"
, New Haven Stuckists Film Group. Retrieved August 27, 2009. Their film noir, ''Blackout'', was premiered at the event ''Stuck Films'' at the New Haven Stuckism International Center in 2002. In 2003, Richards co-produced '' Shooting at the Moon'', a short film premiering at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. In 2008, the film made its London premiere at

Horse Hospital The Horse Hospital is a Grade II listed not for profit, independent arts venue at Colonnade, Bloomsbury, central London. It has a curatorial focus on counter-cultural histories, sub-cultures and outsider as well as emerging artists. It delivers ...

during its FLIXATION Underground Cinema Club event. Richards said that his films had previously often contained nudity, but this time he wanted to do the opposite and the two leads do not quite even kiss: :While making this film I guess the main thing we were thinking about accomplishing was to express this emotional experience, and have people really feel it, and not to get too complicated with story or anything that would distract from this feeling we wanted people to have while watching the film. A book of

pinhole photography A pinhole camera is a simple camera without a lens but with a tiny aperture (the so-called ''pinhole'')—effectively a light-proof box with a small hole in one side. Light from a scene passes through the aperture and projects an inverted image o ...

called "Dark Chamber", featuring new work by Richards as well as work by

Wolf Howard Wolf Howard (born 7 April 1968)Evans, p.36. is an English artist, poet and filmmaker living in Rochester, Kent and was a founder member of the Stuckists art group.Milner, p.80. He is also a drummer who has played in garage and punk bands, cur ...

Billy Childish Billy Childish (born Steven John Hamper, 1 December 1959) is an English painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist. Since the late 1970s, Childish has been prolific in creating music, writing and visual art. He has le ...

and others was published by Urban Fox Press in May 2007.

Brian Sherwin Brian Sherwin (born January 22, 1980) is an American art critic, writer, and blogger with a degree from Illinois College in 2003. Sherwin is a founding Management Team member of the artist social networking site myartspace, where he also served as ...

said of Richards that his work was "Street truth": :His work may seem crude to some, but at least it is honest (sometimes brutally honest.) This honesty is captured by his ability to convey human behavior and struggles with each shot from his camera. In February 2010, the Australian film magazine Filmink announced Richards' participation in a compilation feature film by the

Remodernist film Remodernist film developed in the United States and the United Kingdom in the early 21st century with ideas related to those of the international art movement Stuckism and its manifesto, Remodernism. Key figures are Jesse Richards and Peter Rina ...

movement. The film is scheduled to premiere in New York in December 2010.Cara Nas
"Cinema with soul", Filmink, February 25, 2010
Retrieved February 28, 2010 Richards announced in July 2010 that he joined a "new international film collective" called Subvex, which was initiated by Tobias Morgan, co-director of

The Auteurs The Auteurs were a British alternative rock band of the 1990s, and a vehicle for songwriter Luke Haines (guitar, piano and vocals). Several bands influenced by the Auteurs have taken their names from the band's songs. The Polish band Lenny V ...

's Garage. "Subvex is currently based in Paris and New York and advocates the occupation of new spaces for the projection of films that would otherwise struggle to receive distribution in a mainstream market, and emphasises the development of ground-level cultures around new waves in contemporary filmmaking". In August 2010, Subvex announced its first project, an 8 mm film version of

Exquisite Corpse Exquisite corpse (from the original French term ', literally exquisite cadaver), is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule (e.g. ...

, which will feature new work by Richards,

Jonas Mekas Jonas Mekas (; December 24, 1922 – January 23, 2019) was a Lithuanian-American filmmaker, poet, and artist who has been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema". Mekas' work has been exhibited in museums and at festivals worldwi ...

, Bill Morrison,

Nina Menkes Nina Menkes is an independent filmmaker. Her films include ''The Great Sadness of Zohara'' (1983), ''Magdalena Viraga'' (1986), '' Queen of Diamonds'' (1991), ''The Bloody Child'' (1996), "Massacre (Massaker)" (2005), ''Phantom Love'' (2007), '' ...

Lav Diaz Lavrente Indico Anciro Diaz (born December 30, 1958) is a Filipino independent filmmaker and former film critic. Frequently known as one of the key members of the slow cinema movement, having made several of the list of longest films, longest na ...

, Ian Helliwell,

Amos Poe Amos Poe is an American New York City-based director and screenwriter, described by ''The New York Times'' as a "pioneering indie filmmaker." Career Amos Poe is one of the first punk filmmakers and his film '' The Blank Generation'' (1976)—c ...

and others. The collaboration is not-for-profit and is being financed through

crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digita ...

.Anne Thompso
"Exquisite Corpse: 8 MM Film Experiment", Thompson on Hollywood, August 27, 2010
Retrieved August 30, 2010 In December 2010, Richards joined the Board of Directors of

Cine Foundation International Cine Foundation International is London-based non-profit film company and human rights NGO "aiming to 'empower open consciousness through cinema'". The foundation was formed in December 2010 by American filmmaker Jesse Richards, founder of the Rem ...

. Richards currently lives in

Granby, Massachusetts Granby is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,110 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The census-designated place of Granby corresponds to th ...

Remodernist film movement

In 2004, Richards and fellow filmmaker Harris Smith co-founded

Remodernist Film Remodernist film developed in the United States and the United Kingdom in the early 21st century with ideas related to those of the international art movement Stuckism and its manifesto, Remodernism. Key figures are Jesse Richards and Peter Rina ...

and Photography, a new Remodernist group attempting to introduce Remodernist/Stuckist values into film and photography. In 2008, Richards published a Remodernist Film Manifesto, calling for a "new spirituality in cinema" and the use of intuition in filmmaking.Richards, Jesse
"Remodernist Film Manifesto"
When the trees were still real, August 27, 2008. Retrieved August 20, 2008. He described Remodernist film as a "stripped down, minimal, lyrical, punk kind of filmmaking",. Point four of the manifesto is: :The Japanese ideas of

wabi-sabi In traditional Japanese aesthetics, is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete" in nature. I ...

(the beauty of imperfection) and

mono no aware , literally "the pathos of things", and also translated as "an empathy toward things", or "a sensitivity to ephemera", is a Japanese idiom for the awareness of , or transience of things, and both a transient gentle sadness (or wistfulness) at th ...

(the awareness of the transience of things and the bittersweet feelings that accompany their passing), have the ability to show the truth of existence, and should always be considered when making the remodernist film. There were also criticisms of

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

, digital video, and

Dogme 95 Dogme 95 is a 1995 avant-garde filmmaking movement founded by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vows of Chastity" ( da, kyskhedsløfter). These were rules to create films ba ...

. In late August 2009, an International Alliance of Remodernist Filmmakers was started by Richards in order to promote discussion and collaboration amongst those following the manifesto. The filmmakers include Jesse Richards, Harris Smith, Christopher Michael Beer, Dmitri Trakovsky, Kate Shults, Peter Rinaldi and Khurrem Gold of America, Roy Rezaali of the Netherlands,

Rouzbeh Rashidi Rouzbeh Rashidi ( fa, روزبه رشیدی; born 23 December 1980, Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian-Irish avant-garde filmmaker and founder of Experimental Film Society. Since 2000, Rashidi produced experimental feature films and numerous volumes ...

of Iran and Dean Kavanagh of Ireland. In October 2009, with the intention "to further develop and explain Remodernist film concepts", a series of articles by Richards, Peter Rinaldi and Roy Rezaali were published in the magazine MungBeing In Richards' two essays in the magazine, he explains the development of cinema in terms of

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

postmodernism Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...

and

remodernism Remodernism revives aspects of modernism, particularly in its early form, and follows postmodernism, to which it contrasts. Adherents of remodernism advocate it as a forward and radical, not reactionary, impetus. In 2000, Billy Childish and Charle ...

, and discusses remodernist film craft as involving filmmakers "teaching themselves to paint pictures, to try acting in their own movies and those of others (especially if they are shy), to be nude models for other artists, to meditate, worship if they are religious, to do things that affect their levels of consciousness, try things that make them nervous or uncomfortable, to go out and be involved in life, to find adventure, to jump in the ocean. I think that is the exploration of craft"."Remodernist Film", MungBeing, October 4, 2009
Retrieved October 5, 2009 He also relaxes the criticisms made in the manifesto about digital video, claiming that can "have a place in Remodernist cinema", but with a "new language" and not in the way it is used now, which he says is to "mimic film".
Retrieved October 5, 2009 He describes his specific approach to Remodernist filmmaking as well:

... my own interests are a little more specific. I'm interested in Japanese aesthetics, Tarkovsky's ideas on "sculpting in time", an emphasis on moments. But there's something else I've really been thinking about lately. I believe that the most effective way to really make subjective and authentic work involves an "addressing of the shadow" (as Billy Childish and Charles Thomson have described it). Now what does this mean exactly? It might mean that you are really obsessed with pubic hair, or maybe you are really embarrassed by a physical or mental disability that you try to hide, or like Billy Childish, you were abused as a child. These things, these "shadows" that we are hiding within ourselves, need to be brought forth into the light of day – in our films, in our work, in our poetry. It's necessary for us to share these parts of ourselves so we and the people we share with can grow into complete, honest human beings. Now, this kind of brutal honesty about ourselves shown through imagery that isn't shy, has been explored to a degree in the work from the Cinema of Transgression, and is advocated by Antonin Artaud in his writings about the Theatre of Cruelty, and his later writings on cinema. But I don't think it's quite as simple as just that. As human beings, we are also full of beauty and love and poetry – we can see this in ourselves and in others and in the world around us. So this beauty must be explored as well, and in combination with the exploration of the shadow. The funny thing is that if we would just be honest as filmmakers, or painters, or as whatever we happen to work with, if we could be this honest, this approach would happen automatically. But we are told again and again- these things don't go together, don't tell people about that thing that you can't get out of your head- that image is inappropriate. We've become very afraid of just expressing ourselves honestly, of removing the desperate attempts to appear clever, we've been afraid of showing our true selves out of fear that others will think us fools. So this is where Artaud, the Cinema of Transgression, and even Andrei Tarkovsky have not gone quite the distance. The cinematic exploration of spirituality and transgression together – pubic hair, blood and shit and love and the green grass and the dying cherry blossoms, falling snow, passing trains – every single fucking beautiful piece of life – that is what my conception of Remodernist film is.

The articles also broaden the aim of the movement, explaining the common bond among Remodernist filmmakers being a search for truth, knowledge, authenticity and spirituality in their work, but having different approaches on achieving that goal.

Filmography

* ''Frank's Wild Years,'' 1994/1995 * ''I Wonder'', 1996 * ''Sex and Lies'', 1998
stuckfilm.com. Retrieved August 27, 2009. (destroyed except for trailer) * ''Blackout'', 2000 * '' Shooting at the Moon'', 1998. Re-edit 2003 * ''Yugen'', 2009 * ''Wonder about Patterns in Your Head'', 2009 * ''So Tell me Again'', 2009 * ''Nothing: December 2, 2009'', 2009 * ''Orphans'', 2009

Notes and references

External links

Official blog and art of Jesse Richards
*

* * ttp://www.bakiniz.com/remodernizm-jesse-richards/ Interview in Turkish film magazine Bakiniz(in Turkish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Jesse 1975 births Living people American experimental filmmakers Punk filmmakers Film theorists Stuckism 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century male artists Artists from New Haven, Connecticut University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni People with spina bifida People from Granby, Massachusetts