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Showing posts with label art+christianity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art+christianity. Show all posts

Saturday, 25 July 2026

International Times: ‘Learning My Language’

My latest interview for International Times is with Jacquiline Creswell, who has worked as a curator with a number of Cathedrals in England and in that time has commissioned, curated and installed more than 80 exhibitions:

'It’s so interesting, as it usually takes about two or three years to do an exhibition, and what’s really amazing and fascinating is how the artist sees their work and themselves differently in that time. Somehow, they’ve actually embraced faith. I don’t necessarily mean in a Christian way but they have a new and different spirituality by that engagement. They talk to the Cathedral’s communities and there’s these backwards and forwards conversations, from which everybody’s learning. Everybody’s getting something from it. It’s bringing light to everybody.'

My reviews of exhibitions curated by Jacquiline Creswell can be read here, here, and here.

My earlier pieces for IT are: an interview with the artist Alexander de Cadenet; an interview with artist, poet, priest Spencer Reece, an interview with the poet Chris Emery, an interview with Jago Cooper, Director of the the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, a profile of singer-songwriter Bill Fay, plus reviews of:
Several of my short stories have been published by IT including three about Nicola Ravenscroft's EarthAngel sculptures (then called mudcubs), which we exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford in 2022. The first story in the series is 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes'. The second is 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King', and the third is 'The mudcubs and the Wall'. My other short stories to have been published by International Times are 'The Black Rain', a story about the impact of violence in our media, 'The New Dark Ages', a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies, and 'The curious glasses', a story based on the butterfly effect.

IT have also published several of my poems, including 'Spencer Reece at Bemerton' which is based on the visit that I made to Bemerton in 2026 with Spencer Reece, 'The ABC of creativity', which covers attention, beginning and creation, and 'The Edge of Chaos', a state of existence poem. Also published have been three poems from my 'Five Trios' series. 'Barking' is about St Margaret’s Barking and Barking Abbey and draws on my time as a curate at St Margaret's. 'Bradwell' is a celebration of the history of the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, the Othona Community, and of pilgrimage to those places. Broomfield in Essex became a village of artists following the arrival of Revd John Rutherford in 1930. His daughter, the artist Rosemary Rutherford, also moved with them and made the vicarage a base for her artwork including paintings and stained glass. Then, Gwynneth Holt and Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones moved to Broomfield in 1949 where they shared a large studio in their garden and both achieved high personal success. 'Broomfield' reviews their stories, work, legacy and motivations.

To read my poems published by Stride, click here, here, here, here, here, and here. My poems published in Amethyst Review are: 'Runwell', 'Are/Are Not', 'Attend, attend' and 'Maritain, Green, Beckett and Anderson in conversation down through the ages'.

I am among those whose poetry has been included in Thin Places & Sacred Spaces, a recent anthology from Amethyst Press. I also had a poem included in All Shall Be Well: Poems for Julian of Norwich, the first Amethyst Press anthology of new poems.

'Five Trios' is a series of poems on thin places and sacred spaces in the Diocese of Chelmsford. The five poems in the series are:
These poems have been published by Amethyst Review and International Times.

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Friday, 28 November 2025

Church Times - Book review: The Invention of British Art by Bendor Grosvenor

My latest book review for Church Times is on The Invention of British Art by Bendor Grosvenor:

'Grosvenor regularly to the question whether British art is art made in Britain or art made by British artists. Ultimately, he concludes, “it is the very foreignness of British art that makes it distinctly British”.

Grosvenor rightly pays significant attention to the influence of religion (principally Christianity), for good and ill, throughout the telling of his story.'

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here. My writing for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Artlyst are here, those for Seen & Unseen are here, and those for Art+Christianity are here.

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The Kinks - Sitting By The Riverside.



Friday, 4 November 2022

Church Times - Art review: Football and Religion: Tales of Hope, Passion and Play (Aga Khan Centre)

My latest review for Church Times is Football and Religion: Tales of Hope, Passion and Play by Ed Merlin Murray at the Aga Khan Centre Gallery:

'IF ONE were to be told of a current football exhibition with women footballers featuring as its main image, expectations would be high for an image of the Lionesses victorious at the Euros in the summer. The very different focus of this exhibition becomes apparent in that the key image features the Shimshali sisters — Sumaira Inayat and Karishma Inayat — who have, since 2018, run the Gilgit-Baltistan Girls Football League, Pakistan’s first women-led girls football tournament.

The sisters are Muslims, and this exhibition, as a whole, focuses primarily on the current contribution of Muslims and Christians to football, together with an archive display highlighting both Jewish and Christian contributions. The stories of Muslim women footballers included are one key aspect of an exhibition that challenges stereotypes on several levels. As Karishma says, “I am representing a region that lacks basic facilities yet encourages its daughters to play football and break the patriarchy.”

The exhibition features many stories of hope, passion, and play in the lives of players and professionals, both female and male. These stories are presented through a series of new artworks created by visual artist, illustrator, and animator, Ed Merlin Murray.'

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here. My writing for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Artlyst are here and those for Art+Christianity are here. See also Modern religious art: airbrushed from art history?

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New Order - World In Motion.

Friday, 21 October 2022

Church Times - Art review: Michael Forbes, Blk this & Blk that . . . a state of urgency, at the Djanogly Gallery, Nottingham

My latest review for Church Times is Michael Forbes, Blk this & Blk that . . . a state of urgency, at the Djanogly Gallery, Nottingham:

'ON ENTERING Gallery 1A at the Djanogly Gallery, one sees a series of dismembered torsos — the arms of all the figures being absent — of the crucified Christ in cast Jesmonite, primarily white, but with gold and pink also used, and hung upside down from ropes the ends of which trail across the floor. In this, the largest sculptural installation here, some of the torsos wear life jackets, pointing to recent political and humanitarian events.

Untitled I highlights “how the white European male has dominated the image of Christ” and challenges white viewers with the question how they “reconcile exemplifying Christ whilst reaping unjust benefits from being white”. Forbes has, for many years, questioned this aspect of religion, “believing that it is morally and theologically incumbent upon Christians to realise how whiteness confers privileges that have an impact on the lives of black people and people of colour”. The installation (through the inclusion of life jackets) raises these questions in relation to the legacies of the slave trade and also the current refugee crisis.'

Click here for my Artlyst diary for October which also includes this exhibition.

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here. My writing for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Artlyst are here and those for Art+Christianity are here. See also Modern religious art: airbrushed from art history?

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Ben Harper - With My Own Two Hands.

Monday, 20 June 2022

The Group of Seven

"The Group of Seven (sometimes referred to as the Algonquin School) was Canada's first internationally recognized art movement." They were "a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920 to 1933, originally consisting of Franklin Carmichael (1890–1945), Lawren Harris (1885–1970), A. Y. Jackson (1882–1974), Frank Johnston (1888–1949), Arthur Lismer (1885–1969), J. E. H. MacDonald (1873–1932), and Frederick Varley (1881–1969). Later, A. J. Casson (1898–1992) was invited to join in 1926, Edwin Holgate (1892–1977) became a member in 1930, and LeMoine FitzGerald (1890–1956) joined in 1932.

Two artists commonly associated with the group are Tom Thomson (1877–1917) and Emily Carr (1871–1945). Although he died before its official formation, Thomson had a significant influence on the group. In an essay, Harris wrote that Thomson was “a part of the movement before we pinned a label on it”; Thomson’s paintings The West Wind and The Jack Pine are two of the group’s most iconic pieces. Emily Carr was also closely associated with the Group, though never an official member."

"The Group was united in the belief that a distinct Canadian art could be developed through direct contact with the country's vast and unique landscape." Christopher Varley and Russell Bingham write that "The group presented the dense, northern boreal forest of the Canadian Shield as a transcendent, spiritual force." MacDonald stated that the Group's aim was "to paint the soul of things [...] the inner feeling rather than the outward form".

"For the Group of Seven, the landscape became akin to a religion. Varley and Harris particularly venerated nature, finding God's immanence within it. From their paintings, Dr. Salem Bland, a leading liberal theologian, stated that he felt, "as if the Canadian soul was unveiling to me something secret and high and beautiful which I had never guessed; a strength and self-reliance, depth and mysticism I had not suspected." Katerina Atanassova says “There is a great deal of spirituality in early twentieth century Canadian art, Varley was very influenced by Buddhism, and many of Lawren Harris’s paintings are based on theosophic principles.”

Jim Friedrich notes that, in 1927, Emily Carr saw an exhibition by the Group and that night wrote in her journal: "Oh, God, what have I seen? Where have I been? Something has spoken to the very soul of me, wonderful, mighty, not of this world. Chords way down in my being have been touched. . . Something has called out of somewhere. Something in me is trying to answer." Carr, at age 56, would go on to begin her most productive period as a painter, exploring the unique spirituality of Canadian landscapes.

Margaret Hirst writes that "Carr yearned to find and express God, and Lawren Harris ... was the catalyst for her great spiritual journey. In addition, Harris befriended and encouraged Carr, offered technical advice, and introduced her to philosophies such as Theosophy and the transcendental poetry of Walt Whitman." "An awe of great expanses became a crucial component of Carr’s religious expression, as she moved away from paintings of native scenes and totems toward a focus on the timbers and skies of the woods. Though Christian, Carr retained the Pantheistic tendencies born in her girlhood, hearing “the myriad voices of God shouting in one great voice: ‘I am one God.... I am heaven. I am earth. I am all in all’.” Her developing religious devotion began to permeate her art." "As she developed her technical skills and style, expression of the Almighty remained foremost in her artistic purpose. By 1934 she could write: “I am painting my own vision now, thinking of no one else’s approach.” Carr had synthesized her faith into a personal, non-dogmatic Christianity, accented by traces of Pantheism, all of which would be reflected in her famous “sky” paintings."

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Bruce Cockburn - Hills of Morning.

Wednesday, 23 March 2022

Artlyst - Ali Cherri: Artist in Residence National Gallery

My latest review for Artlyst is of Ali Cherri's If you prick us, do we not bleed? installation at the National Gallery:

'His installations, therefore, open up a conversation about the Gallery’s Collection, which, by spanning five centuries of Western European painting, includes a large proportion of paintings that treat specifically Christian themes and subject matter. Three of the five damaged paintings are among that group within the Collection, whilst those surrounding Cherri’s vitrines in the Sainsbury wing are predominantly so. At the centre of the Christian faith and its images is the violence of the crucifixion, alongside that inflicted on martyrs following in the footsteps of Christ. In the context of this exhibition, then, there is a discussion to be had about the depiction of violence within the Collection and within Christianity, together with explorations of the extent to which Christ’s passion seeks to unmask systems of violence and the extent to which the Church has been complicit in such systems.'

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -
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Leonard Cohen - Who By Fire.

Wednesday, 21 July 2021

Artlyst: Michael Armitage And The Power Of Art – Royal Academy

My latest review for Artlyst is of 'Michael Armitage: Paradise Edict' at the Royal Academy:

'At the heart of Michael Armitage: Paradise Edict is an exhibition of East African artists whose work has influenced Armitage and around whom, through the van Rampelberg’s, he grew up. He has selected 31 works by six artists – Meek Gichugu, Jak Katarikawe, Theresa Musoke, Asaph Ng’ethe Macua, Elimo Njau and Sane Wadu – each of which played an important role in shaping figurative painting in Kenya and had a profound impact on his own artistic development. He has also selected works by three other Kenyan artists – Wangechi Mutu, Magdalene Odundo and Chelenge van Rampelberg – that are displayed in The Dame Jillian Sackler Sculpture Gallery, just outside the exhibition galleries.

The works chosen explore themes concerned with society, politics, sexuality, and religion, which are also reflected in Armitage’s paintings. His paintings’ colourful, dreamlike settings, play of visual narratives, provocative perspectives, and challenges to cultural assumptions enable exploration of history, politics, civil unrest, and sexuality. In discussing his debt to these artists, Armitage has emphasised the fact that he shares many of their socio-political concerns, in addition to the way they use Christian imagery and different aspects of local cultures.’

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -
Articles -
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Friday, 18 June 2021

Church Times: ‘Call to Holy Ground’ at St Andrew’s, Leytonstone

My latest review for Church Times is about Call to Holy Ground, an exploration of nature, sanctuary and belief, comprising installations in a church and temple, a sound pilgrimage through the fringes of Epping Forest, and a video work:

'Within the works, there is a subtle and sensitive interweaving of symbols and rituals, not a merging or blurring of faith and practice. This is art as meeting place, and as estuary, becoming a breeding ground for ideas and improvisation. The project has formed a bridge (built on existing relations between the communities) between faiths, generations, and spiritual and ecological practices for those involved, and now creates a pilgrimage for those who come through the elements, with participants and artists, exploring the sacred essence of ground that is both common and holy together with its connection to our inner landscape.'

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

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George Harrison - What Is Life?

Sunday, 19 April 2020

Airbrushed from Art History: An update

This weekend ArtWay have republished an article exploring Andy Warhol's engagement with Catholicism and the impact on his art and legacy. Similarly, Artlyst have published an article exploring the enigma of Salvador's Dali's engagement with faith, while I have posted a piece on this blog about the Catholic wellsprings and work of Dali's friend, the Viennese Visionary Realism Ernst Fuchs. Each of these adds to the argument I have been making over several years that the level and extent of the engagement between the Christianity and the Arts has been more significant than is generally acknowledged.

In particular my ‘Airbrushed from art history’ series on this blog surveyed the Christian contribution to the Visual Arts which is broad and significant but is far from having been comprehensively documented. See below for the Index, links and other related writings for this series.

To explore the contribution made by Christianity to the Arts is important because the story of modern and contemporary Arts is often told primarily as a secular story. To redress this imbalance has significance in: encouraging support for those who explore aspects of Christianity in and through the Arts; providing role models for emerging artists who are Christians; and enabling appreciation of the nourishment and haunting which can be had by acknowledging the contribution which Christianity has made to the Arts.

My co-authored book The Secret Chord explored aspects of a similar interplay between faith and music (and the Arts, more broadly). Posts related to the themes of The Secret Chord can be found here. I have also posted an outline summary of the Christian contribution to rock and pop music. Pieces on contemporary choral and classical music are here and here.

Tracing the connections between artists that were either part of the Church and were engaged by the Church in the 20th century is an important element in the argument that the level and extent of the engagement between the Church and the Arts has been more significant than is generally acknowledged. Some of my posts tracing these connections include:
My key literature posts are:
The index to my 'Airbrushed from Art History' series of posts is as follows:
Additions to the series and related posts are as follows:
Additional posts are at https://joninbetween.blogspot.com/search/label/airbrushed%20from%20art%20history. 

On my sabbatical in 2014 I enjoyed the opportunity to visit churches in Belgium, England, France and Switzerland to see works of modern and contemporary art. I documented these visits at http://joninbetween.blogspot.com/search/label/sabbatical and they resulted in a series of Church of the Month reports for ArtWay: Aylesford Priory, Canterbury Cathedral, Chapel of St. ThĂ©rèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, Hem, Chelmsford Cathedral, Churches in Little Walsingham, Coventry Cathedral, Ă‰glise de Saint-Paul Ă  Grange-Canal, Eton College Chapel, Lumen, Metz Cathedral, Notre Dame du LĂ©man, Notre-Dame de Toute Grâce, Plateau d’Assy,Romont, Sint Martinuskerk Latem, St Aidan of Lindisfarne, St Alban Romford, St. Andrew Bobola Polish RC Church, St. Margaret’s Church, Ditchling, and Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, St Mary the Virgin, Downe, and St Paul Goodmayes, as well as earlier reports of visits to sites associated with Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Marc Chagall, Jean Cocteau, Antoni Gaudi and Henri Matisse.


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Bill Fay - Be Not So Fearful.