I note that the Guardian mentions the Stuckists twice this week. Jane Morris does a piece announcing the Go West Stuckist show at Spectrum London in October with a little background on their running battle with Sir Nicholas Serota and the Chris Ofili scandal.

The other mention is a few broad paragraphs about the Stuckists and a little slideshow featuring some of their work - very nice.

Morris article here

Slideshow here

Stuckism website here

More Stuckist pictures here

With lots to read after my holiday absence from the scene, I was so disappointed in the Guardian’s Jonathan Jones’ mean-spirited, tawdry little blog dated July 19.

After months of sitting on the fence/hiding his head in the sand (delete where applicable), Jones finally says what he ought to have said eons ago about the Ofili scandal at Tate Modern. So why does he have to refer to the Stuckists as “know-nothings”? Jonathan, they aren’t know-nothings they are the ones who campaigned to get this scandal out in the open - they are the know-lots! And, after reporting that the “Tate broke the law”, why did you down-play this as an “anomaly”? Yeah, burglars et al are committing anomalies all over the place too!

Jones states, “it is absurd that the Tate management has played into the hands (of the Stuckists)’ - err, no, no playing into hands here - more like caught with their hands in the cookie jar…

I have followed Jones’ work for a long time now and wonder if he was having the bad-hair day of all time as he goes on to attack Damien Hirst for losing “his special something since he quit drinking” …

One line that stood out for me was “But the fact is that an inward-looking arrogance has come to light, and anyone who has had dealings with Tate knows it reflects something real.” - the know-nothings, and in my own little way, I too, have been saying this for nine months or more.

Come on Jones - keep up at the back there!

Normally I’m a 12 hour a day, seven days a week kind of working person - I love my job, but Mrs Artistica put her foot down when she announced we were going on a decent holiday - no argument!

So, with a couple of grand on the hip and the car freshly serviced we set off for sunny London town to see, amongst other things, the much discussed Tate rehang. I’d love to report that I was knocked sideways by the new layout or even that I was disappointed by it - truth is it had no descernable effect on me except that a few old friends were out of the vault and back on display. What I really like about the Tate Mod is the feeling of wonderment I get - like a child in Disneyland…

I’m pleased to say that my favourite piece of artwork was there, Duchamp’s “The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even” - gets me every time that one. And, since I came out of the closet and faced the fact that “I am a lover of surrealist art” - I was happy to see the Surrealists in Poetry and Dream.

The Kandinsky exhibition, “The Path to Abstraction”, was a wonderful experience, as was the UBS collection - but Howard Hodgkin was awful - but I’m not going to go there.

Next day we did the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition - funny to see some of the art “luvvies” reaction to the giant statue of a pregnant woman by Damien Hirst - you’d have thought that they would have got used to this sort of thing by now - hey ho…

Finally, our path inevitably wound round town to the National Portrait Gallery, Mrs Artistica’s spiritual home - thence to Waxy’s Little Sister pub in Wardour Street for a few lazy drinks people-watching at the window - what can I say - the quintessential English art day out - lovely!

The following Saturday it was off to St Ives - a seriously unpleasant six hour drive in the sweltering heat - what did we do before we had aircon? I always get a twinge of excitement when I cross the Tamar no matter how many times I go - and this time was no exception. After farting about with the no parking/tourist riddled narrow streets we finally made it to our little holiday flat on the harbour front. Felt like home!

Next morning we were off to the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden - my personal Garden of Eden. There is a feeling in that place, behind those high walls, that you have left St Ives and it’s summer visitors and have been transported to a pure place - not of the 21st century on battered old Mother Earth. Her work is, in my eyes, the finest sculpture ever produced. Sorry Michelangelo, Moore, Giacometti and all you giants in the world of sculpture, this is the girl for me.

Fortunately there was no major Alfred Wallis presence that ruined my first visit to Tate St Ives (thinks - I wonder if one day they’ll pair Alfred Wallis with Howard Hodgkin in a large grey shed somewhere). The John Hoyland exhibition, The Trajectory of a Fallen Angel was a triumph! I was bowled over by this fantastic display of abstract modern art - huge canvasses that screamed their prescence into the quiet rooms. GO AND SEE HIS WORK!

Apart from a few odds and sods and a bit of seagull dodging the rest of the holiday saw me sat by the open picture windows reading my books and just chillin’…

Back in harness tomorrow - just thought I’d share.

Well now, I go on holiday for a few weeks and find my friends the Stuckists back in the headlines. Following an article in the Times reporting the reprimand delivered by the Charity Commission criticising the Tate’s £600,000 purchase of Chris Ofili’s Upper Room whilst he was a serving trustee (interesting word), Tim Adams does a piece “The were Ofili naughty” in the Guardian.

Speaking with Charles Thomson, co-founder of the Stuckists, Adams asks if they “had been out on the town celebrating their victory” - to which Thomson replied, “‘No, there was just the odd phone call…The news has a bitter-sweet quality. We think of the Tate as our gallery, too.’ Exactly my feelings! I have stated on several occasions that Sir Nicholas Serota has tainted the reputation of one of our greatest modern art assets, by allowing the Tate Modern to be dragged into this sordid little scandal. I personally was especially exasperated by Serota’s cavalier rejection of Gerald Laing’s Iraq works back in January.

Where it will all end, who knows, Serota seems to have teflon skin - or is it that the powers that be are all bark and no bite?

“Tate’s Ofili purchase broke charity law” - Times article by Dalya Alberg here

“The were Ofili naughty” - Guardian article by Tim Adams here

Gerald Laing snub article here

Stuckist site here

Upper Room pictures here

PS Anyone in need of a good laugh - go here