The Last Supper
On the 10th anniversary of Stuckism, here is a portrait of the first 10 years, through my eyes anyway..
There are 13 people in a coven. 13 in Da Vinci’s last Supper. And there were 13 Stuckists in the original group.
I did a watercolour and pencil drawing over the summer, substituting the apostles for Stuckists. Followers of Charles Thomson have been sometimes referred to as ‘disciples’.
Then Elsa Dax had a dinner party, and the digital camera with the photo of the watercolour sketch went round….the general consensus was that I had to do it.
I was about to start two other portraits. But a small watercolour sketch was not enough for the Last Supper.
Almost as soon as I had stretched the 120 x 190 cm canvas, I was told that I had to move studios – to a smaller room. Panic set in, and I painted until my arm fell off to get it done before the move – only just.
I feel that this painting is very Stuckist – there is a lot I could do to improve it but I have tattooed fire-eaters, Edwardian Gentlewomen and eccentric New Yorkers awaiting their portraits. I had to stop; this is the Stuckist Last Supper. It is imperfect. To really do this properly could take years. So I leave it as it is; a passionate sketch in oil on canvas.
To take a tour of this monstrosity… the 13 original members are at the table: Sheila Clark, Sanchia Lewis, Charles Williams, Billy Childish, Wolf Howard, Sexton Ming, Charles Thomson, Philip Absolon, Joe Machine, Bill Lewis, Ella Guru, Frances Castle and Eamon Everall.
There was some thought about who would play Christ. Billy was the first to be photographed for the painting, and was very pleased to be Judas. Wolf and Sexton are grouped with Billy, as they also left the Stuckists.
Philip, Joe and Bill Lewis are together as they are all Medway based, though Philip has since moved to Norfolk. Frances and I were friends when we joined the group, so we are together with Eamon who used to corner us and tell us how he wanted to have babies with as many women as possible.
Sheila, Sanchia and Charles Williams are grouped together because they are the relative unknowns – they were there in the beginning, but little has been seen or heard of them in terms of Stuckism for some time. They are also the only 3 that did not sit for me; Sanchia sent a photo; I found one of Sheila from mine and Sexton’s wedding; and Charles Williams’ photos in the Stuckist Punk Victorian book happened to be the prefect position. (Philip was also not photographed; we will see him next week anyway, though I made up his portrait for the painting).
I cycled to Medway to photograph Bill Lewis and Wolf. Eamon came over; Frances lives nearby. Charles was at the L-13 with Billy Childish and Joe Machine.
The animals across the front are there because I like animals in paintings; Harry is muse and performer Amanda Mae Steele’s dog (nothing to do with Stuckism but I thought he’d look good and he does); then my cat Roast; a fox symbolising Bill Lewis’ familiar; and Pippa of the Stuckist Centre at Lewenhagen, Germany.
Lewenhagen is also in the window at the back of the painting.
Dancing near the window is Emily Strange, who modelled for Paul Harvey’s painting for the Punk Victorian show, at the Walker Museum in Liverpool in 2004. Emily is also a Stuckist.
Paul Harvey and Philip Absolon’s paintings are on the back wall. I wanted a deeper interior than the original, which is fact too shallow for the people to even be sitting around the table. It seems that Leonardo made a few mistakes, not just in painting on dry plaster rather than wet fresco.
I went through several books of interiors to find the right one, and then drew it by hand, using perspective books from the children’s library. It wasn’t until later that I checked what the interior is actually is based on – it’s Windsor Castle.
On the balconies on the left of the painting there are the Stuckist protests at the Turner Prize. John Bourne is first, then Charles Thomson and Elsa Dax, then a group including Elsa again, Ella (Ella, Charles and Elsa appear twice in the painting), Annie Zamero holding her painting “Tony Blair turns Catholic, (after Velasquez)”, Fanny, Charlotte Gavin, Katherine and the other “giggly girl”, Rachel Jordan. And a few more clowns.
The next lot of protesters include Damien Hirst’s godmother, Margaret Walsh (RIP), then another group with Remi Noe (Maidstone Stuckists), and finally at the far corner, arms outstretched, is Gina Bold. I hadn’t intended to include her for any reason, but her pink trousers and glasses were just too good to leave out.
On the right of the painting, in the windows, in rows form the top:
Top row: Jonathan Coudrillle (guest artist); Tony Juliano (Connecticut); Darren Udiayan (Cambridge); Edgeworth Johnstone and Shelly Li (the Other Muswell Hill Stuckists);
Second row: Jesse Todd Dockery (Kentucky Stuckists); Dan Belton (Brighton); Regan Tanmaui (Melbourne); Jane Kelly (Acton); Michael Dickinson (Istanbul);
Bottom row: Terry Marks (New York); Mark D (guest artist); and Paul Harvey (Newcastle).
There is a blank window over Bill Lewis’ shoulder, representing the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square. No, not really. There are huge numbers of Stuckists left out; this window is for all of them. I counldn’t possibly include every single Stuckist, and what determined who was in or out was more about who would look good where, and who I knew. I realise some key players are not in the painting. Maybe someone else could do another version?
Re objects on the table – I asked some of the sitters what they would like. Others I gave cups of tea or drinks or tubes of paint. Bill Lewis requested the menorah and the shoe. Wolf has his pinhole camera. Frances has a computer; this is her tool nowadays, rather than paint. And Charles has a phone, not a mobile but a nice, old fashioned phone. Stuck in the past? Perhaps, but then again perhaps not….
Ella Guru
12. 10. 2009
