.gif)
Paul Harvey (artist)
Encyclopedia
Paul Harvey is a British musician and Stuckist
artist, whose work was used to promote their 2004 show at the Liverpool Biennial
. His paintings draw on pop art
and the work of Alphonse Mucha, and often depict celebrities, including Madonna
.
, Staffordshire
. He attended Burton Grammar School (1971–78) and North Staffordshire Polytechnic (1978–82) for Foundation Art and BA (Hons) Design. In 1982 he moved to London and played in post-punk bands including Happy Refugees; in 1986 he moved to Newcastle to join Pauline Murray
's band. During this time, he co-published-and-drew Mauretania Comics
with comics artist Chris Reynolds
, and also taught graffiti art.
In 2001, he became a full-time lecturer in art and design at North Tyneside College. The same year, he joined the Stuckism art group, founding a Newcastle branch. In 2002, he joined Murray's re-formed punk band Penetration
; he curated the show, Stuck in Newcastle, at the Newcastle Arts Centre, and was a joint winner of the Stuckists Real Turner Prize Show 2002.
He showed with the group at the Wednesbury Museum in 2003. 2003–2005, he gained an MA in Fine Art Practice at the University of Northumbria. In 2004, he was the Stuckist co-curator with Hiroko Oshima of the Ryu Art Group of the show, Members Only: the Artist Group in Japan and Britain, which took place at the Bailiffgate Museum
, Alnwick
.
He was a featured artist in The Stuckists Punk Victorian
show at the Walker Art Gallery
for the 2004 Liverpool Biennial
, His painting of artist and model Emily Mann was used to promote the show. The painting was based on a photograph of Mann by Charles Thomson
and was originally intended to promote the Stuckists Real Turner Prize Show 2003: at that time the placard contained the text, "Serota
needs a good spanking".
However, according to Harvey, another artist Gina Bold
"got really angry and started a debate about the S&M/fetish allusion. She got really pissed off with me because I didn’t agree with her. Then it got a bit nasty—the whole thing was just daft. Then the show got cancelled—and it had all been a complete waste of my fucking time." He later repainted the placard with a woman's face, and it was used in this form for the Walker show.
In 2006, he was one of the ten "leading Stuckists" in the Go West
exhibition at Spectrum London
gallery. In 2007, he was in the show, I Won't Have Sex with You as Long as We're Married, at the A Gallery
.
In 2008, he was commissioned by Job
cigarette papers to create a set of campaign posters with a stylistic reference to Alphonse Mucha, who had created earlier paintings for the firm. Harvey made works featuring famous double acts to emphasise the sales message of "The Original Double", a reference to the twin-size packets of papers made by Job. Harvey's enthusiasm for the project came about because "Mucha is one of his heroes", said Mark Ross, the director of Glorious Creative agency managing the campaign. The work created some controversy: Gilbert and George
gave their endorsement to the images, but The Mighty Boosh
and The White Stripes
were not pleased to be featured. Famous Doubles, a show of the original paintings used for the posters, was promoted at the Wanted Gallery in Notting Hill by Fraser Kee Scott
, director of the A Gallery
.
In 2009, his painting of Charles Saatchi
was banned from the window display of the Artspace Gallery in Maddox Street, London, on the grounds that it was "too controversial for the area". It was the centrepiece of the show, Stuckist Clowns Doing Their Dirty Work, the first exhibition of the Stuckists
in Mayfair
, and showed Saatchi with a sheep at his feet and a halo made from a cheese wrapper. The Saatchi Gallery
said that Saatchi "would not have any problem" with the painting's display. The gallery announced they were shutting down the show. Harvey said:
The Stuckists considered legal action, and co-ordinated, on the event's Facebook
page, a campaign of emails to the gallery, which agreed to exhibit the painting in the window and to continue the show.
As of 2010, Harvey is researching a PhD
on Stuckism at Northumbria University
.
His images are often derived from pictures of film and singing "stars" in magazines, and reworked into a new context. His style references pop art
and Alfons Mucha
. The incorporation of modern symbols poses an ambiguity as to the amount of irony present, though the artist has claimed that he does not intend this. Possibly his best-known work is a painting of the singer Madonna
. The elements mentioned are clearly visible, with small dumbbells around the border, for example and a lively, provocative Madonna, contrasting with Art Nouveau
curves and languidity.
He has described his work as strong line defining flat areas of colour, "dealing with ideas of beauty and decoration" and often appropriating images from art history and popular culture.
He describes his methodology: "I use photographs but change the composition on a computer. I project onto canvas, trace the masses with a blue pencil, paint the details freehand with a sable brush, and the larger areas two to four times (for opacity) with Japanese or decorator’s brushes. I often change figures to get it right. I paint incessantly at home—paintings take up to three months."
Stuckism
Stuckism is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting in opposition to conceptual art...
artist, whose work was used to promote their 2004 show at the Liverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial is a British international festival of contemporary art held in Liverpool. The festival comprises the International Exhibition, the John Moores Painting Prize, the Bloomberg New Contemporaries Exhibition and the Independents Biennial....
. His paintings draw on pop art
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
and the work of Alphonse Mucha, and often depict celebrities, including Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
.
Life and career
Paul Harvey was born in Burton upon TrentBurton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a town straddling the River Trent in the east of Staffordshire, England. Its associated adjective is "Burtonian"....
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
. He attended Burton Grammar School (1971–78) and North Staffordshire Polytechnic (1978–82) for Foundation Art and BA (Hons) Design. In 1982 he moved to London and played in post-punk bands including Happy Refugees; in 1986 he moved to Newcastle to join Pauline Murray
Pauline Murray
Pauline Murray was the lead singer of the punk rock band, Penetration, which was originally formed in 1976.In May 1976 the then 18-year-old Murray saw the Sex Pistols...
's band. During this time, he co-published-and-drew Mauretania Comics
Mauretania Comics
Mauretania Comics was an independent comics anthology published by Paul Harvey and Chris Reynolds. Reynolds' main character was the mysterious Monitor, a strange helmeted figure, while Harvey's was the more blatant Mincer. The stories were mainly quiet, distant pieces, as if peering into other...
with comics artist Chris Reynolds
Chris Reynolds
Chris Reynolds is a Welsh DJ.-Career:Reynolds began his career as a technical operator at 103.2 & 97.4 Red Dragon, later becoming a Programming Assistant.In July 2005 he left the station and joined 96.4 The Wave to present overnights....
, and also taught graffiti art.
Penetration (band)
Penetration is a punk rock band from County Durham, England formed in 1976. They re-formed in 2001 with several new members.Their debut single, "Don’t Dictate", is now acknowledged as a classic punk rock single and their debut album, Moving Targets , is still widely admired-Biography:The lead...
; he curated the show, Stuck in Newcastle, at the Newcastle Arts Centre, and was a joint winner of the Stuckists Real Turner Prize Show 2002.
He showed with the group at the Wednesbury Museum in 2003. 2003–2005, he gained an MA in Fine Art Practice at the University of Northumbria. In 2004, he was the Stuckist co-curator with Hiroko Oshima of the Ryu Art Group of the show, Members Only: the Artist Group in Japan and Britain, which took place at the Bailiffgate Museum
Bailiffgate Museum
The Bailiffgate Museum is a small independent museum in Alnwick, Northumberland, England dedicated to the history of Alnwick and North Northumberland. It is staffed by volunteers.- Introduction :...
, Alnwick
Alnwick
Alnwick is a small market town in north Northumberland, England. The town's population was just over 8000 at the time of the 2001 census and Alnwick's district population was 31,029....
.
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....
show at the Walker Art Gallery
Walker Art Gallery
The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England, outside of London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group, and is promoted as "the National Gallery of the North" because it is not a local or regional gallery but is part...
for the 2004 Liverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial is a British international festival of contemporary art held in Liverpool. The festival comprises the International Exhibition, the John Moores Painting Prize, the Bloomberg New Contemporaries Exhibition and the Independents Biennial....
, His painting of artist and model Emily Mann was used to promote the show. The painting was based on a photograph of Mann by Charles Thomson
Charles Thomson (artist)
Charles Thomson is an English artist, painter, poet and photographer. In the early 1980s he was a member of The Medway Poets. 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, run an art...
and was originally intended to promote the Stuckists Real Turner Prize Show 2003: at that time the placard contained the text, "Serota
Nicholas Serota
Sir Nicholas Andrew Serota is a British art curator. Serota was director of the Whitechapel Gallery, London, and The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, before becoming director of the Tate, the United Kingdom's national gallery of modern and British art in 1988. He was awarded a knighthood in 1999. He...
needs a good spanking".
However, according to Harvey, another artist Gina Bold
Gina Bold
Gina Boldis an English artist/poet, who makes paintings, stained glass and sculpture. She was an artist in residence at Arlington House from May to November 2007.- Life and work :...
"got really angry and started a debate about the S&M/fetish allusion. She got really pissed off with me because I didn’t agree with her. Then it got a bit nasty—the whole thing was just daft. Then the show got cancelled—and it had all been a complete waste of my fucking time." He later repainted the placard with a woman's face, and it was used in this form for the Walker show.
In 2006, he was one of the ten "leading Stuckists" in the Go West
Go West (exhibition)
Go West is the title of the first exhibition by Stuckist artists in a commercial London West End gallery. It was staged in Spectrum London gallery in October 2006...
exhibition at Spectrum London
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...
gallery. In 2007, he was in the show, I Won't Have Sex with You as Long as We're Married, at the A Gallery
A Gallery
The A Gallery was a contemporary art gallery in Wimbledon, London run by Fraser Kee Scott.The gallery was founded in 1997. Its first exhibit was by then-recent graduate Alison Jackson. In 2004, the gallery exhibited a sculpture by Marie White of a nude female; some members of the public complained...
.
In 2008, he was commissioned by Job
JOB (rolling papers)
JOB rolling papers are a popular brand of cigarette paper produced by Republic Tobacco in Perpignan, France. In 1838, a French craftsman named Jean Bardou came up with the idea for a booklet of rolling papers made of thin, pure rice paper...
cigarette papers to create a set of campaign posters with a stylistic reference to Alphonse Mucha, who had created earlier paintings for the firm. Harvey made works featuring famous double acts to emphasise the sales message of "The Original Double", a reference to the twin-size packets of papers made by Job. Harvey's enthusiasm for the project came about because "Mucha is one of his heroes", said Mark Ross, the director of Glorious Creative agency managing the campaign. The work created some controversy: Gilbert and George
Gilbert and George
Gilbert & George are two artists who work together as a collaborative duo. Gilbert Proesch and George Passmore have become famous for their distinctive, highly formal appearance and manner and their brightly coloured graphic-style photo-based artworks.-Early life:Gilbert Proesch was...
gave their endorsement to the images, but The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six episode radio series, it has since spawned a total of twenty television episodes for BBC Three and two live tours of the UK, as well as two live shows in the...
and The White Stripes
The White Stripes
The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...
were not pleased to be featured. Famous Doubles, a show of the original paintings used for the posters, was promoted at the Wanted Gallery in Notting Hill by Fraser Kee Scott
Fraser Kee Scott
Fraser Kee Scott is the "maverick and dynamic" owner of A Gallery in Wimbledon, London, and a partner in Wanted Gallery, Notting Hill. He has promoted artists, Paul Normansell and Thomas Ostenberg, as well as the Stuckists, with whom he has demonstrated against the Turner Prize...
, director of the A Gallery
A Gallery
The A Gallery was a contemporary art gallery in Wimbledon, London run by Fraser Kee Scott.The gallery was founded in 1997. Its first exhibit was by then-recent graduate Alison Jackson. In 2004, the gallery exhibited a sculpture by Marie White of a nude female; some members of the public complained...
.
In 2009, his painting of Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi is the co-founder with his brother Maurice of the global advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, and led that business - the world's largest advertising agency in the 1980s - until they were forced out in 1995. In the same year the Saatchi brothers formed a new agency called M&C...
was banned from the window display of the Artspace Gallery in Maddox Street, London, on the grounds that it was "too controversial for the area". It was the centrepiece of the show, Stuckist Clowns Doing Their Dirty Work, the first exhibition of the Stuckists
Stuckism
Stuckism is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting in opposition to conceptual art...
in Mayfair
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...
, and showed Saatchi with a sheep at his feet and a halo made from a cheese wrapper. The Saatchi Gallery
Saatchi Gallery
The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art, opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985 in order to exhibit his collection to the public. It has occupied different premises, first in North London, then the South Bank by the River Thames and currently in Chelsea. Saatchi's collection, and...
said that Saatchi "would not have any problem" with the painting's display. The gallery announced they were shutting down the show. Harvey said:
- I did it to make Saatchi look friendly and human. It's a ludicrous decision because it's not even a controversial painting. It's just Dairylea cheese and a sheep and some lemons, because he likes lemonade.
The Stuckists considered legal action, and co-ordinated, on the event's Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page, a campaign of emails to the gallery, which agreed to exhibit the painting in the window and to continue the show.
As of 2010, Harvey is researching a PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
on Stuckism at Northumbria University
Northumbria University
Northumbria University is an academic institution located in Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England. It is a member of the University Alliance.- History :...
.
Paintings
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
and Alfons Mucha
Alfons Mucha
Alfons Maria Mucha , known in English as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist, known best for his distinct style. He produced many paintings, illustrations, advertisements, postcards, and designs.-Early years:...
. The incorporation of modern symbols poses an ambiguity as to the amount of irony present, though the artist has claimed that he does not intend this. Possibly his best-known work is a painting of the singer Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
. The elements mentioned are clearly visible, with small dumbbells around the border, for example and a lively, provocative Madonna, contrasting with Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
curves and languidity.
He describes his methodology: "I use photographs but change the composition on a computer. I project onto canvas, trace the masses with a blue pencil, paint the details freehand with a sable brush, and the larger areas two to four times (for opacity) with Japanese or decorator’s brushes. I often change figures to get it right. I paint incessantly at home—paintings take up to three months."