Congruity and controversy: exploring issues for contemporary commissions

I was recently invited to write a post on commissioning art for the ArtWay blog. My post draws on my sabbatical art pilgrimage, my experiences through commission4mission and the example of St Stephen Walbrook:

"The Henry Moore commission at St Stephen Walbrook ... brings into focus some of the key issues and questions regarding modern or contemporary commissions. In 2014 I explored these issues and questions through a sabbatical art pilgrimage which involved visits to significant sites connected to the renewal of religious art in Europe during the twentieth century. In Europe I have visited some of the sites connected with the groups of artists surrounding Maurice Denis, Jacques Maritain, Albert Gleizes and Père Marie-Alain Couturier, while, in the UK, I primarily visited sites which highlight the influence of innovatory commissions undertaken by Bishop George Bell and Canon Walter Hussey. These were issues with which I had already begun to grapple as secretary to commission4mission, an arts charity encouraging churches to commission contemporary art."

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Extreme - Song For Love.