Much of what receives publicity in
the field is, understandably but not exclusively, what it is feasible for
cathedrals and city centre churches to commission and exhibit. One effect of
this focus can then be that local churches look at commissions/exhibitions
featuring national and international artists and the sums of money involved and
think both that that kind of engagement with the arts is entirely out of their
league and that their engagement, where it exists, with local/regional artists
and/or community arts initiatives is viewed as lacking in quality and of little
significance.
The unintended effect, therefore, is
to give the impression to local churches that commissioning contemporary art
requires considerable budgets and access to the art establishment. Neither are
true, but by focussing primarily on such major commissions what church art
coverage there is can easily give local churches the impression that the visual
arts are not for the likes of us. What is needed, therefore, is a both/and; a
public focus on a varied range of interesting
commission/exhibitions/installations/projects involving local churches set
alongside the national and internationally significant work undertaken through
some cathedrals and city centre churches.
c4m seeks to address this situation,
firstly by providing a support network and brokerage for artists with regional
and local reputations who wish to be commissioned by churches and secondly by
countering objections which are likely to made in relation to contemporary
commissions within local churches i.e. that such commissions will
be unaffordable (which we counter both by realistic charges and by suggesting
funding comes through donations made in memory of loved ones) and that the money
would be better spent on other pressing needs (which we counter by including a
charitable element in the overall cost of each commission). Our experience has
been that these approaches open up opportunities for commissions in ways that
would not otherwise have been the case.
We recognise that there are legitimate questions that can be asked of our approach and that not all artists would wish to be join our group as a result. We understand and accept that but also ask for a reciprocal acknowledgement that the work of artists with regional or local reputations has value, that community arts initiatives have value, and that opening up new opportunities for original commissions also has real value.
A similar issue arises in relation
to use of the term 'Christian Art'. We use this term because we are
principally a group of artists who have a Christian faith and who are
actively seeking Church commissions. c4m primarily exists to promote and obtain
contemporary art commissions in churches and with this limited remit, it seems
to us to be accurate to label what we do through c4m as being 'Christian Art'
i.e. art produced by Christians for a Christian context. Applying that term to
what we do is in no sense intended to be determinative or restrictive for any
other artists or groups working within the mainstream arts.
Again, we recognise the debate that exists over the use and validity of the term. God is in the wider conversation going on in the art world, the Church needs to participate in that conversation, and work of all kinds of artists are needed within our churches. That is principally what goes on through the commissions and exhibitions organised by cathedrals and city centre churches ably supported by Art and Christianity Enquiry (ACE) and the academy. However, if that is the only engagement that the Church has with the visual arts, it will continue to exclude as much as it includes. It will exclude by overlooking the value of local and regional artists/arts initiatives and by overlooking work which is not at the cutting edge of contemporary art or which utilises more traditional Christian iconography.
Art's power
to challenge, subvert and disturb is not going to be affected in any measureable
way by either the engagement or lack of engagement of the Church in a predominantly secular culture and where
our resources for patronage are greatly reduced from that of Christendom. The
question is, therefore, not whether our actions will reduce art's power to
challenge, subvert or disturb but firstly of the extent to which we open
ourselves to that power and secondly of the extent to which we nurture artists
that, like Georges Rouault, can genuinely tap art's power to challenge, subvert or
disturb secular culture (including that of the art establishment) from a
Christian perspective.
My view is again that we need a
both/and. To ally art too closely with a Christian variety or with mission
will limit us in our engagement with the world but to only engage with the world
and thereby fail to nurture artists within the Christian community is also a
real and present danger. My sense is that most published writing on the arts
from, in some fashion, within the Church is skewed towards the former and away
from the latter. Within the visual arts, we need to find the balance which seems
to exist more equably within music. Classical music continues to utilise
liturgical forms in mainstream music making and also to value the specialist
field of Church music, while popular music draws heavily on its roots in both
Black Gospel and Country Gospel, acknowledging both in relation to its history
and to the current forms taken by these genres. There are no equivalents found
within contemporary visual art, despite the enormous Christian heritage that
exists within the history of art.
My perception of the number of
organisations, projects and initiatives which encourage a dialogue between the
arts and the church is that while small, they have grown in number and range
within more recent years. Insufficient co-ordination or dialogue exists
between these groups. The Forum for Art and Religion seems to be have been an attempt to bring some such co-ordination or dialogue while ACE has more
recently sought to establish a regional network that engages many of the groups
which do exist. c4m has written to all the groups of which we are aware and is
in discussion at different levels with several such groups. As a first step,
we have been involved in initiating Run With The Fire, an Olympic-themed art project with CANA and
Veritasse. We see a clear need for a national network or
conference.
I think there are potentially at least three levels at which such networking could be useful as an ongoing activity. First, information exchange - simply keeping each other up-to-date with what we are each doing. Second, specific shared projects, some of which might involve the whole network and others a smaller selection of those in the network. Third, shared support services. This third level is probably a longer term possibility to be considered once relationships have grown within the network but could involve a shared support person or team undertaking administrative, developmental, fundraising and/or publicity activities on behalf of all those in the network.
Our experience suggests that there is considerable interest in engaging with the visual arts in churches but that the national/academic dialogue which does occur often seems a world away from local churches. Our experience also suggests that there are significant numbers of artists wishing to engage with local churches but, again, that existing structures or approaches have not reached such artists. It is for these reasons that we feel that groups such as c4m have a valid and significant place and role within the wider range of organisations, projects and initiatives which encourage a dialogue between the arts and the church.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Jam - Art School.
No comments:
Post a Comment