ABSTRACT
Given that we have now reached the new millennium, there may be hope for the future of both marketing and art. Imagine the impact artists such as Caravaggio, Rembrandt and Michelangelo (Gombrich 1996) could have achieved in their own lifetime if they had at their disposal the vast media machine that now seems to dominate our daily lives. An example of the successful merging of marketing and art can be seen in the coverage of the annual Turner Prize (Button and Searle 1997), resulting in increasing visitor numbers at the Tate Gallery (Wilson 1990) and in enhanced reputations for the artists concerned. I recently attended a poetry reading in Glasgow given by Billy Childish (Childish 1999), erstwhile boyfriend of Tracey Emin (Brown 1998), the seemingly ubiquitous Turner Prize nominee. Apart from being a poet, Billy Childish is also a songwriter, independent record label songster and artist. Mr Childish has spent a number of years revelling in his niche market position of punkish anarchy but now that he has co-authored the ‘Stuckist Manifesto’ (Alberge 1999), he is in danger of becoming popular among a wider audience. This manifesto was written partly as a reaction to the current state of play in British art, and was also named in honour of the views held by Tracey Emin concerning her one time boyfriend and his paintings. It remains to be seen if the ‘Stuckist Manifesto’ will have the same impact as those developed by the Surrealists (Breton 1966) and the Futurists (Tisdall and Bozzolla 1977) but it is encouraging that at least one creative group sees fit to challenge the status quo in their industry.
