Stephen Howarth
Encyclopedia
Stephen Purbeck Howarth known as S.P. (born 23 July 1981) is a poet, Stuckist
artist and actor. He was expelled from college for his paintings. He has demonstrated
against the Turner prize
at the Tate
gallery.
, London
and educated at St Christopher School, Letchworth
. He is severely dyslexic
. In 2000, he attended Camberwell College of Arts
and was in the Students for Stuckism
group. In 2002, he was "expelled from the painting course for doing paintings." He said:
The incident was reported in The Times
with the headline "Art students accuse college of failing to teach them the basics". Other students supported him and there were also letters of support in the newspaper.
Howarth was then given the inaugural show at the Stuckism International Gallery
in Shoreditch, with the title I Don't Want a Painting Degree if it Means Not Painting. He was in the first group show at the gallery, The Stuckists First International, and subsequent shows.
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Sarah Kent
in Time Out called his painting, Midnight in the hotel Suburbia, "soft porn". He responded that it was "hard porn".
After college he worked in a gallery, bar and factory, and as a labourer. He founded the Balham Stuckists group and also the South London Stuckism International Centre.
In 2001, he demonstrated with the Stuckists in Trafalgar Square
during the unveiling of Rachel Whiteread
's sculpture, Monument, and was in the Stuckist demonstration
outside Tate Britain
against the Turner Prize
.
.jpg)
In 2003, he took part in a debate on Sky News with Richard Littlejohn about the £12,000 public funding given to artist Andre Stitt
, who proposed to kick an empty takeaway container along Bedford
High Street. Howarth's work was part of the donation of Stuckist paintings offered to the Tate Gallery
in 2005, which the Tate rejected.
Group shows include Seven New Artists Pay Their Respects to Past Masters (2001) at the Fridge Gallery, Brixton; Umpapa (2001), Tap Collective, Clapham; Rivington Gallery Artists (2002), Rivington Gallery, Hoxton; Stuckism Group Show (2003), Wednesbury Museum, West Midlands; also at Black Spot, Clapham; Ace of Clubs, Clapham; Worthing Library; and Newcastle Arts Centre. He was in the first national museum show of the Stuckists, The Stuckists Punk Victorian
, at the Walker Art Gallery
during the 2004 Liverpool Biennial
. Stella Vine
, who was then a member of the Stuckists, bought one of his paintings at the Fridge Gallery.
He commented on his work:
He is not himself a violent person.
He is also a performance poet, and a Shortfuse Poetry Idol Competition winner. As well as a number of other slam titles including "Bard of Brixton." Is estimated to have performed at over a hundred venues in the U.S. and U.K. His publications of poetry are Poet, Painter, Pervert (Coffin Press) and Noteless Nocturnes to the Never-Ending Night (Coffin Press) (both, now out of print).
Howarth has worked as an actor in theatre productions, including Midsummer Night's Dream, A Comedy of Errors, and the rock musical Rasputin Rocks!, for which he was a co-writer with Andrew Hobbs, Lucyelle Cliffe and Alistair Smith. These were produced by Facsimile Productions
. In the summer 2009 Howarth collaborated again with Andrew Hobbs of Facsimile Productions
in writing a new play entitled Bacchus in Rehab. The play made its world premiere at the Etcetera Theatre
in London, with Howarth cast in the title role and Anton Shelupanov
in the role of Hades
. Additionally Howarth co-wrote and starred in a short film, An Angry Young Man, and his poem A Brief History of south east England was used in a short film of the same name. Both can be seen on YouTube
.
He is has recently posed for a series of paintings by the artist Richard Bagguley
.
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 and actor. He was expelled from college for his paintings. He has demonstrated
Stuckist demonstrations
Stuckist demonstrations since 2000 have been a key part of the Stuckist art group's activities and have succeeded in giving them a high profile both in Britain and abroad...
against the Turner prize
Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
at the Tate
Tate
-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...
gallery.
Life and work
Stephen Howarth was born in LewishamLewisham
Lewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and educated at St Christopher School, Letchworth
St Christopher School, Letchworth
St Christopher School is a boarding and day co-educational independent school located in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire. Established in 1915 shortly after Ebenezer Howard founded Letchworth Garden City, the school is a long-time proponent of progressive education...
. He is severely dyslexic
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
. In 2000, he attended Camberwell College of Arts
Camberwell College of Arts
Camberwell College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, and is widely regarded as one of the world's foremost art and design institutions. It is located in Camberwell, South London, England, with two sites situated at Peckham Road and Wilson Road...
and was in the Students for Stuckism
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...
group. In 2002, he was "expelled from the painting course for doing paintings." He said:
- I was told I had been failed, because I had not done any work. When I said that I had brought my work in for assessment and that there were paintings in my space, I was told that they didn't count as work, because they didn't show development of ideas. I said that my idea was to paint spontaneously and express what I felt. I was told that this was not an acceptable idea in 'contemporary practice'.
The incident was reported in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
with the headline "Art students accuse college of failing to teach them the basics". Other students supported him and there were also letters of support in the newspaper.
Stuckism International Gallery
The Stuckism International Gallery was the gallery of the Stuckist art movement. It was open 2002 to 2005 in Shoreditch, and run by Charles Thomson, the co-founder of Stuckism...
in Shoreditch, with the title I Don't Want a Painting Degree if it Means Not Painting. He was in the first group show at the gallery, The Stuckists First International, and subsequent shows.
Sarah Kent
Sarah Kent is a British art critic, formerly the art editor of the weekly London 'what's on' guide Time Out. She was an early supporter of the Young British Artists in general, and Tracey Emin in particular, helping her to get early exposure. This has led to polarised reactions of praise and...
in Time Out called his painting, Midnight in the hotel Suburbia, "soft porn". He responded that it was "hard porn".
After college he worked in a gallery, bar and factory, and as a labourer. He founded the Balham Stuckists group and also the South London Stuckism International Centre.
In 2001, he demonstrated with the Stuckists in Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
during the unveiling of Rachel Whiteread
Rachel Whiteread
Rachel Whiteread, CBE is an English artist, best known for her sculptures, which typically take the form of casts. She won the annual Turner Prize in 1993—the first woman to win the prize....
's sculpture, Monument, and was in the Stuckist demonstration
Stuckist demonstrations
Stuckist demonstrations since 2000 have been a key part of the Stuckist art group's activities and have succeeded in giving them a high profile both in Britain and abroad...
outside Tate Britain
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
against the Turner Prize
Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
.
Andre Stitt
Andre Stitt , is a performance artist. Stitt's family moved from Belfast in the early 1960s and spent his early life in Seymour Hill, Dunmurry, near Lisburn, where he attended Dunmurry High School before going to Art College...
, who proposed to kick an empty takeaway container along Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
High Street. Howarth's work was part of the donation of Stuckist paintings offered to the Tate Gallery
Tate Gallery
The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
in 2005, which the Tate rejected.
Group shows include Seven New Artists Pay Their Respects to Past Masters (2001) at the Fridge Gallery, Brixton; Umpapa (2001), Tap Collective, Clapham; Rivington Gallery Artists (2002), Rivington Gallery, Hoxton; Stuckism Group Show (2003), Wednesbury Museum, West Midlands; also at Black Spot, Clapham; Ace of Clubs, Clapham; Worthing Library; and Newcastle Arts Centre. He was in the first national museum show of the Stuckists, The Stuckists Punk Victorian
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....
, 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...
during 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....
. Stella Vine
Stella Vine
Stella Vine is an English artist, who lives and works in London. Her work is figurative painting with subject matter drawn from either her personal life of family, friends and school, or rock stars, royalty and celebrities.After a difficult relationship with her stepfather, she left home and in...
, who was then a member of the Stuckists, bought one of his paintings at the Fridge Gallery.
He commented on his work:
He is not himself a violent person.
Howarth has worked as an actor in theatre productions, including Midsummer Night's Dream, A Comedy of Errors, and the rock musical Rasputin Rocks!, for which he was a co-writer with Andrew Hobbs, Lucyelle Cliffe and Alistair Smith. These were produced by Facsimile Productions
Facsimile Productions
Facsimile Productions is an independent London based theatre production company who stage productions of new writing by their own resident writers as well as others...
. In the summer 2009 Howarth collaborated again with Andrew Hobbs of Facsimile Productions
Facsimile Productions
Facsimile Productions is an independent London based theatre production company who stage productions of new writing by their own resident writers as well as others...
in writing a new play entitled Bacchus in Rehab. The play made its world premiere at the Etcetera Theatre
Etcetera Theatre
The Etcetera Theatre is a fringe venue for theatre and comedy. It was founded in 1986 and is situated above The Oxford Arms pub in Camden Town, in the London Borough of Camden....
in London, with Howarth cast in the title role and Anton Shelupanov
Anton Shelupanov
Anton Shelupanov is a Russo-British penal reformer, social innovator, musician and actor.-Life and work:Shelupanov was born in the Soviet Union in 1978. He is the son of Prof. Alexander Shelupanov. He came to the UK in the 1990s and was educated at St Hugh’s College, Oxford...
in the role of Hades
Hades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
. Additionally Howarth co-wrote and starred in a short film, An Angry Young Man, and his poem A Brief History of south east England was used in a short film of the same name. Both can be seen on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
He is has recently posed for a series of paintings by the artist Richard Bagguley
Richard Bagguley
Richard Bagguley is an international muralist and artist.He spends much of the year traveling, dividing his time between on site commissions and his studios in London and Los Angeles....
.