Critical Realism

The Stuckists are not the only people who are concerned about the direction modern art is taking. There is increasing opposition coming from other quarters such as the Critical Realists. Critical realism originated with the ideas of Georg Lucaks, a Marxist political thinker and art critic. The ideas of the Critical Realists are best expressed in a short manifesto by David John Beesley, a former Stuckist:

Work Should Have (Manifesto)

1- Intention to communicate something that is about, or can affect life. Be it political, personal or environmental, they are all relevant and can affect each other.

2 - To answer our own questions. To make work about our own beliefs, can cause them to change, as we gather knowledge on subjects. This in turn can be criticised by other people and causes debate, the essence of Critical Realism, to seek a truth,
through debate and understanding.

3 - Work can be in any medium.

For more about Critical Realism, I would recommend David John Beesley's site, Critical Realist and especially his page on Post Modernism where he discusses the problems of the current art scene and the solution offered by the critical realist. Beesley's page on the Stuckist site.

David John Beeseley Straw Dogs.

William Kentridge (1955--) Untitled (Man with Megaphone) I first encountered Kentridge at an exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in March 2009. His works, mainly charcoal drawings and prints, also include animations and film. While he does not call himself a critical realist, his work exemplifies their ideas.

Allen Sekula Shipwreck and Workers Allen Sekula is a photographer and filmmaker whose work falls clearly withing the definition of the critical realists. Here are photographs from his exhibit "Shipwreck and Workers." And here you can find a description of his film project "A Short Film for Laos."

Leon Golub(1922-2004)White Squad (1982) Leon Golub deals with stress and violence and the ways in which these things affect our own world.

Phillip Guston (1913-1980) City Limits (1969). Phillip Guston was an abstract expressionist whose work in the late 1960s turned to cartoon-like figures that comment on social conditions. He often included Ku Klux Klan characters as in this painting.

Because these artists all embrace figurative or representational art, their work falls clearly within the parameters of the Stuckist Manifesto. However, they limit their art to that which addresses social and political conditions.