Southwark Cathedral - ‘Magdalene at the Base of the Cross’ by Chris Gollon

‘Magdalene at the Base of the Cross’ by Chris Gollon is being displayed beside the High Altar of Southwark Cathedral for the duration of Lent as both an aid to worship, and to overlap with Women’s History Month in March, in which there will be talks and reflections on the Magdalene.

The painting is on loan from a private collection; but originally formed part of Gollon’s national touring exhibition to English cathedrals ‘Incarnation, Mary and Women from the Bible’ (2014 – 2016), which travelled to the cathedrals of Guildford, Chichester, Durham, Norwich and Hereford, focusing only on women from the Bible.

Tonight there was the screening of ‘CHRIS GOLLON:Life in Paint’ featuring Thurston Moore, Maggi Hambling, Sara Maitland, Eleanor McEvoy and more. Before the screening Canon Kathryn Fleming and Rev’d Dr Julie Gittoes gave short talks on Gollon’s depiction of women from the Bible as part of Women’s History Month. After the screening Tamsin Pickeral, Mark Calderbank and Wilfred Wright spoke about Gollon and his work.

The documentary ‘CHRIS GOLLON: Life in Paint’, recently premiered at the Barbican Centre and in New York. The film explores the artist’s sensitive portrayal of women, his innovative techniques and his pioneering artistic boundary crossing with leading musicians, beginning with his collaboration with Thurston Moore in ‘ROOT’ at the Chisenhale Gallery, alongside Yoko Ono, David Bowie and Gavin Turk.

In the film, Sara Maitland remarks: “I’m an old-style feminist […] trying to bring that sort of feminism into some sort of relationship with the Gospels, and Chris just does it”. Gollon biographer art historian Tamsin Pickeral notes: “ ‘Magdalene at the Base of the Cross’ has an increasing earthiness, seen in her muscly, knotted arms and her workmanlike hands. Clearly this is a woman who has toiled, and yet she is also incredibly beautiful.”

Chris Gollon (1953 -2017) was a London-born artist who exhibited widely in the UK. His work is held in major public collections including the British Museum. Gollon exhibited with Yoko Ono, David Bowie and Gavin Turk in ROOT, an exhibition of contemporary music and art created by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth (Chisenhale Gallery, 1998). Other boundary crossing collaborations included working with Grammy-nominated classical virtuoso, Yi Yao (2014) and with singer-songwriter Eleanor McEvoy (2015 – 2017). In 2004, Gollon exhibited in St Paul’s Cathedral, with Bill Viola, Maggi Hambling and Tracey Emin in ‘Presence: Images of Christ for the Third Millennium’.

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Eleanor McEvoy - Heaven Help Us.