As isms go, Funism is one that bodes pretty well. And fun it certainly is. It's also a very cosy affair. A single wall in the Willesden Green council library centre (admittedly it is a big wall), the show is rather at odds with the grandiose ICA setting of one-time-Stuckist Billy Childish's retrospective Unknowable but Certain. There are families milling about and a gentle acoustic guitar accompaniment. Nevertheless, the community centre feel is somehow apposite to the Funists: the atmosphere is friendly and distinctly unsnobbish, mirroring the movement's central ethos that “art should be as much fun to look at as it is to think about, art should be intellectually engaging without being elitist”.
But it is not a monolithic, manifesto-driven group: the painting styles differ significantly, and the artists seem to have come together almost by chance. There are train tracks creating geometric patterns, monochrome scientists debating the relative merits of cheese before bedtime, and paintings inspired by feral children. One of the highlights for me is Lou Psyche's baffling collection of six silk screen prints showing Pterodactyls Over London, explained only by the phrase “pterodactyls are Lou's favourite dinosaur”.
The artists on show branch out into fields other than art as well. Anna Page, who works with New Age patterns, mirrors and wordplay (e=mc2 backwards, she notes, is “to see me”), is also a singer-songwriter and a former dancer for Channel 4. El Tel's biography informs you that he has only used recycled materials in the work he has on show, but also that he is an inventor. Chris Yates, whose colourful portraits include Morrissey and a Self-Portrait as a Dolphin, works on emotional literacy through art in a behaviour unit in Manchester.
There is also a trendy “side order of Stuckism”: Ella Guru and Sexton Ming were among the movement's founding members, and the portraits by Chris Yates belie a Stuckist sensibility. In a self-celebratory but tongue-in-cheek style reminiscent of pop art, Ella Guru's The Stuckists' Last Supper depicts the 13 founders of the movement surrounded by banners proclaiming that 'The Turner Prize is Crap'. Sexton Ming's cartoon strips, involving pigs, mice and smoking, are as bizarre as they are entertaining. It's not the ICA, but you get the feeling that library-centre-goers will enjoy the exhibition as much as more discerning art lovers will. Most of the works are also on sale for between £50 and £1000, so if you head over to Willesden Green you might be able to buy yourself a bit of art-related fun.
Funism is at The Gallery at Willesden Green until 9th April 2010.
