The Stuckists Punk Victorian

The Stuckists Punk Victorian was the first national gallery exhibition of Stuckist art. It was held at the Walker Art Gallery and Lady Lever Art Gallery in Liverpool from 18 September 2004 to 20 February 2005, and was part of the 2004 Liverpool Biennial.

It comprised more than 250 paintings by 37 artists, mostly from the UK but also with a representation of international Stuckist artists from the US, Germany and Australia. There was also a smaller accompanying exhibition of the Stuckist Photographers. A book, The Stuckists Punk Victorian, was published to accompany the exhibition. Six fringe shows took place internationally.

Some of the work was compared with the "shocking" work of YBAs, Jake and Dinos Chapman. The gallery posted a warning notice of some "sexual and violent" subject matter.Daily Mail journalist, Jane Kelly, exhibited a painting of Myra Hindley and was dismissed from her job.

Critical reaction to the show ranged from "dreadful" to "the next big thing in art". Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate gallery, visited the show and called it "lively". The Walker deemed it a very successful show and extended the run.

In 2005, the Stuckists offered 160 of the paintings as a donation to the Tate gallery. This was turned down by Serota on the grounds that the work was not of "sufficient quality". The rejection stimulated a campaign by the group over purchases of trustee work by the Tate, which was subsequently censured by the Charity Commission.

The Stuckists were founded in 1999 by Charles Thomson and Billy Childish to promote figurative painting and oppose conceptual art. The name was derived from an insult by Tracey Emin. The original group of 13 artists has now grown to an international movement of over 160 groups in 40 countries. Childish left the group in 2001.

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