Chaiya Art Awards: ‘God is . . .’ at Gallery@OXO

My latest review for Church Times is of Chaiya Art Awards 2021 winners exhibition at Gallery@OXO:

'The Chaiya Art Awards, with roots in Christianity but open to people of all faiths and none, is asking who or what God is, and continuing an age-old conversation in a modern setting with contemporary eyes. It is asking big questions while looking for inspiration from the wealth of the UK’s creatives. What have they found?

Glimpses of unvarnished reality which become moments of revelation are the pearls of great price or treasures buried to which artists attend; and that alertness to epiphany can clearly be discerned in much of the work included here.'

“God is . . .” runs at Gallery@OXO, Bargehouse Street, London SE1 9PH from 14 to 23 May 2021, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. every day (till 4 p.m. on last day). It can also be viewed online at chaiyaartawards.co.uk. The 2021 Award winners can be found by clicking here.

My Artlyst interview of Chaiya Art Awards founder Katrina Moss can be read here and my ArtWay visual meditation on the winning entry in the 2018 Awards is here. 

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here.

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Emmylou Harris - Sweet Old World.

Online exhibition: Where is God in our 21st Century World?

The Chaiya Art Awards are the UK’s biggest art awards exploring spirituality through the visual arts. Due to the coronavirus, the 2020 Chaiya Art Awards, for which I am one of the judges, has been postponed until Easter 2021 and will take place at gallery@oxo on London’s Southbank.

Chaiya Art Awards believe that art can play such an important role in our current situation, to calm the soul, to challenge our perspectives and world views, to inspire and encourage us, to engage with creativity and the mystery within. It can give us and other people fresh perspectives on what is happening in our neighbourhoods and across our world. Art can bring hope, comfort or challenge.

As the 2020 awards have been postponed until Easter 2021, they have decided to showcase an exhibition never seen online before. From over 450 submissions, they selected over 35 visual artists in this curated and judged exhibition as they respond to the theme of the inaugural Awards: 'Where is God in our 21st Century World?’

To visit this 3D virtual online exhibition, click here. After you have visited the exhibition you can vote for your favourite piece, the winner of the public vote will win £500.

There is also an accompanying hardback book featuring all the exhibition artists, plus an additional 35 artists, alongside inspiration writing, poems and quotes. During the online exhibition this is available at a special discounted price, click here to buy.

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Mavis Staples - All In It Together.

Chaiya Art Awards: Where is God in our 21st century world?

Chaiya Art Awards are the UK’s newest theme based biennial art award with a top prize of £10,000.

This year’s awards are being held at London’s prestigious gallery@oxo located on the busy South Bank Riverside and celebrate inspiring art on the first intriguing theme: Where is God in our 21st century world?

This curated and juried exhibition of painting, sculpture and video by more than 40 artists is for the curious and open-minded, for people of all faiths and none. It is bursting with richness and diversity, vulnerability and exploration, colour and fragility, treasure and beauty.

The Chaiya Art Awards showcases some of the most innovative and exciting artists looking to continue this age old conversation through different mediums, in a modern setting through contemporary eyes, The Chaiya Art Awards exhibition offers the opportunity to view and buy beautiful and stimulating art that is often difficult to find on display elsewhere.

The Chaiya Art Awards themed exhibition is on at Oxo Tower Wharf until 8 April 2018, open 11am – 6pm daily.

The accompanying hardback book to the Chaiya Art Awards exhibition "Where is God in our 21st Century World?" features 60+ featured artists care about our world and the life it sustains. Their persistent probing to find meaning and understanding through what they create is hugely important to us all. Does God exist? If He is real, where is He and what does He have to offer? Be inspired and challenged by a multitude of original and provocative responses that will draw you further into the mystery of just where is God in our 21st-century world.

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Switchfoot - The Day I Found God.