A PART-TIME teacher will be amongst the country’s top artists when a controversial exhibition opens next week.

Stuckist artist Chris Yates, of Regents Road in Ramsbottom, is having his paintings showcased at Liverpool’s View Two Gallery as part of a national collection.

The exhibition, entitled An Antidote to the Ghastly Turner Prize, will display work by the major stuckists when it opens on Wednesday.

Chris is hoping his work will help to spread the word about the Bury Stuckists. He is one of three stuckist artsts in the town and forms part of a major new movement sweeping the art world.

Stuckist art is a form of contemporary figurative painting that strives to retain a sense of realism and skill. “It’s about putting forward contemporary ideas using figurative painting rather than using something so abstract that no one understands it,” says Chris. “Art is not something precious, it’s something for everyone. I guess what I’m trying to say is that we’re inclusive not exclusive.”

The 55-year-old started his career in the music industry back in the 1980s when his indie band the Poors of Reign had chart success and supported Manchester favourites, Happy Mondays.

But as the years flew by, Chris decided to put the dream aside and take up teaching.

Settling in Ramsbottom, he began teaching art and music to children with behavioural problems at a school in Manchester, where he currently works part-time.

Chris’s paintings tackle the subject of abuse and were inspired by images of the Iraq War.

The work looks at international conflict and also at abuse between individuals. “I work with children who have behavioural problems, which often stem from abuse, so I get them to do paintings about their experiences,” says Chris. “I think that artists can be more honest about how abuse can affect individuals.”

Founded in 1999 by Billy Childish, stuckism has developed in opposition to conceptual postmodern art and what they believe is superficial novelty.

It shuns the work of the young British artists and Brit Art, in particular Tracey Emin, famous for her controversial unmade bed. “Most people don’t think that sort of thing is really art,” said Chris.

In 2004, the first major stuckist show was held at the Walker Gallery, which is home to one of the biggest collections of art in the UK, outside London.

But it’s a topic of controversy that raises that potent question of ‘what is art?’ In 2005 the Tate gallery rejected a £500,000 gift of artwork from the stuckists. The director believed that the paintings did not deserve national recognition, even though their show at the Walker had been a huge success.

Since then the movement has gained popularity and Chris’s work will be displayed in the latest show, which runs until November 29 at the View Two Gallery, Liverpool.