experimental animation film Phobia. In 1998 he fled to Liverpool after a homophobic knife attack. Intensive psychotherapy followed during 1998 in an attempt to come to terms with his past traumatic experiences. He has since been diagnosed with dysthymia. Throughout his periods of illness he continued to produce drawings and paintings albeit in limited numbers. Ex-Vaselines front woman Frances McKee commissioned the artist to create several CD covers for her band Suckle. In 2003 he started a BA (Hons) Art History course at Liverpool John Moores University, where he won the Susan Cotton Travel Scholarship. He adopted the name Naive John in 2004 and founded the Liverpool Stuckist group. He adopted the pseudonym Naive John as a means of distancing himself from mainstream artistic concerns of being "relevant", "fashionable" and "cutting edge". In 2004 his work was included in The Stuckists Punk Victorian show at the Walker Art Gallery during the 2004 Liverpool Biennial. This exhibition was a definitive showing of the Stuckist oeuvre at a national gallery and marked a key point in the development of the art movement. In October 2006 he curated and exhibited in Triumph of Stuckism. His painting The Other was the central image featured on promotional literature and attracted the attention of influential collector David Roberts. In 2007 Naive John was invited to exhibit his work as part of the Fellow Travellers touring group exhibition at Salford Museum alongside Holly Johnson and BP Portrait Award winner Sadie Lee. Salford Museum commissioned the artist in 2008 to produce public art to display on billboard spaces in Salford as part of Walkabout; a joint project with The Lowry. He exhibited in the Fellow Travellers show which took place in Korpfulstadir, Reykjavík, Iceland July 2008. Triumph of Stuckism At the invitation of Professor Colin Fallows, Chair of Research at Liverpool School of Art and Design, Naive John led The Triumph of Stuckism, an international symposium on Stuckism announced for October 2006 at the Liverpool John Moores University during the Liverpool Biennial, along with an accompanying exhibition in the 68 Hope Gallery at Liverpool School of Art and Design (John Moores University Gallery). The title of the symposium is a reference to the Triumph of Painting shows staged in 2005 by Charles Saatchi, and according to The Independent newspaper, "Charles Saatchi is about to become the latest victim of a critical mauling from the people of Liverpool", whose