Last time I was at Wallspace Meryl Doney was commenting that, while many contemporary artists were keen to have their work exhibited in a gallery that is also a church, others were reluctant to display work in a setting that would highlight the Christian themes or images in their work. Combined with visits to the From Outside exhibition and Mark Titchner's recent exhibition at Vilma Gold, this got me thinking about the effect on the artwork of its being exhibited within a church setting.
The works exhibited by Damian Thompson and Caroline Burraway in From Outside illustrate the issues well. Damian Thompson exhibits photographs of corpses where the photograph acts as a vessel for maintaining some uncanny presence of the dead. For From Outside one of these photographs was exhibited as an altar cloth, which suggests the image of Christ in the tomb awaiting resurrection. Immediately, we have moved beyond Thompson's stated purpose for these photographic corpses but, as he is searching for meaning in the face of death and exploring the issues of belief that are tied-up with this search, to do so is not necessarily to do violence to the core of his art. Instead, a wider frame of reference is opened up for that search than might otherwise be the case.
Burraway's work functions differently from that of Thompson's in this context. Burraway filmed Kathleen, an elderly relative, in her final days and the resulting videos and charcoal's emphasise the finality with which breath leaves the body. In the context of a church where a central tenet of belief is in resurrection this sets up a challenge between the work and its location.
Nicholas Cranfield, in his review of Sam Taylor-Wood's three films shown recently at Wallspace, claimed that they "gain little from their being shown in a consecrated building" with none suggesting "a narrative or symbolic shape to benefit by being at Wallspace." This is despite Pieta and Ascension making direct reference to traditional, western Christian iconography which, perhaps, suggests shortcomings in Cranfield's critical response rather than in the works themselves. The third film, Prelude in Air, has none of the Christian references of Pieta and Ascension and yet, as with Thompson's work, its showing in a church does open up new references which would not otherwise be apparent.
Prelude in Air presents a musician totally engaged with the Bach prelude he is playing, but he is performing without a cello. The music and the man are present; the instrument that links the two is absent. As a result, the performer is improvising the playing of the cello within the framework of the Bach prelude that he can here. For Christians, this has resonances with our calling to be inspired by the Holy Spirit to improvise actions that fit within the framework of the Christian story and contribute to the movement towards its fulfillment. Again, without being in dialogue with the church context, such a reading would be unlikely to occur.
These works displayed in a gallery would not have these resonances or set up the same kind of conversation with their context. This is apparent in seeing The Eye Don't See Itself, Mark Titchner's recent exhibition at Vilma Gold. Here the white cube of the gallery sets no external framework for the work with which it can be in dialogue. As a result the work speaks solely in its own right. In this case, as a monumental reflected projection enveloping the viewer in a state that seeks to disturb perception through use of Rorschach inkblots, Alpha states, and self-improvement mantras. The work, therefore, deals with aspects of belief but its references are solely contained within the work.
This is not to say that one is better than the other simply to flag the way in which works displayed in a church, to work well, have to be strong enough to enter into dialogue with their context in a way that is not the case in the white cube of a gallery. These extra references or resonances can also deepen the experience of interacting with the artworks themselves.
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Love - She Comes In Colours.
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