Visual Commentary on Scripture: Fishers of People

I'm delighted that my third exhibition for the Visual Commentary on Scripture has just been published and can be found at Fishers of People | VCS (thevcs.org).

This exhibition uses Damien Hirst's 'Isolated Elements Swimming in the Same Direction for the Purpose of Understanding (Left) and (Right)', John Bellany's 'Kinlochbervie', and Paul Thek's 'Fishman in Excelsis Table' to discuss Matthew 4:12-22 and Mark 1:14-20. These artworks give us what is essentially a collage of the kingdom whereby we are invited to imagine the kingdom of God as a body of water in which Christians are immersed and through which they are raised.

My first exhibition for the VCS was Back from the Brink on Daniel 4: 'Immediately the word was fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men, and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws.' (Daniel 4:33). In the exhibition I explore this chapter with William Blake's 'Nebuchadnezzar', 1795–c.1805, Arthur Boyd's 'Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of the Tree', 1969, and Peter Howson's 'The Third Step', 2001.

My second exhibition is A Question of Faith and explores Hebrews 11 through the paintings of New Zealand artist Colin McCahon. McCahon is widely recognised as New Zealand’s foremost painter. Over 45 years, his work encompassed many themes, subjects and styles, from landscape to figuration to abstraction and an innovative use of painted text. His adaption of aspects of modernist painting to a specific local situation and his intense engagement with spiritual matters, mark him out as a distinctive figure in twentieth-century art.

The VCS is a freely accessible online publication that provides theological commentary on the Bible in dialogue with works of art. It helps its users to (re)discover the Bible in new ways through the illuminating interaction of artworks, scriptural texts, and commissioned commentaries. The virtual exhibitions of the VCS aim to facilitate new possibilities of seeing and reading so that the biblical text and the selected works of art come alive in new and vivid ways.

Each section of the VCS is a virtual exhibition comprising a biblical passage, three art works, and their associated commentaries. The curators of each exhibition select artworks that they consider will open up the biblical texts for interpretation, and/or offer new perspectives on themes the texts address. The commentaries explain and interpret the relationships between the works of art and the scriptural text.

Find out more about the VCS, its exhibitions and other resources through a short series of HeartEdge workshops introducing the VCS as a whole and exploring particular exhibitions with their curators. These workshops can be viewed here, here, here and here.

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Newsboys - Fishers Of Men.

Artlyst - John Bellany, Alan Davie: Spiritual Joy and Magic

My latest piece for Artlyst takes Cradle of Magic at Newport Street Gallery - which sets Alan Davie and John Bellany, Scotland’s best-known post-war artists, alongside each other, as a starting point to examine the spirituality of Scotland's Expressionists:

'Davie, one of the first British artists to win international acclaim after World War II, was an influence on Bellany, Alisdair Gray, Craigie Aitchison, Christopher Wood and Lorraine G Huber. Bellany would later be a significant influence on the New Glasgow Boys, in particular, Peter Howson and Ken Currie.

While their work differs, in that Davie’s work is primarily abstract deriving from use of automatism and Bellany’s mostly figurative and mythic, they share a significant point of connection in their love and purpose of Expressionism. Within Scottish art, the pair follow artists such as William McTaggart and William Johnstone through their interest in and use of Expressionism. Both achieve rich painterly effects through the excessive use of thick layers of oil paint. An abundance of black is used to amplify the brilliance of other colours and enhance the drama of works which surface our deepest emotions.

The work of Davie and Bellany also shares an interest in and engagement with religion; this being an interest shared, too, with some of those influenced by them.'

My other Artlyst articles and interviews are:

• RIFT Unites 17 Art and Science MA Graduates At Central St Martins
• Visionary Cities: Michael Takeo Magruder – British Library
• Van Gogh’s Religious Journey Around London
• William Congdon Holy Sites And The Kettle’s Yard Connection
• Mark Dean Premieres Pastiche Mass At Banqueting Hall Chelsea College of Arts
• John Kirby: The Torment Underlying The Civilised Facade
• Curating Spiritual Sensibilities In Changing Times
• Ken Currie: Protest Defeat And Victory
• Bosco Sodi: A Moment Of Genesis
• Bill Viola And The Art Of Contemplation
• Art In Churches 2018: Spiritual Combinations Explored
• Sister Wendy Beckett – A Reminiscence
• Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker On The Legacy Of ArtWay
• Guido Guidi: Per Strada Flowers Gallery London
• Peter Howson Artlyst Interview
• Peter Howson: The play is over – Flowers Gallery
• Camille Henrot: Scientific History And Creation Story Mash Up
• Nicola Green Explores Recent And Contemporary Religious Leaders – St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Art And The Consequences Of War Explored In Two Exhibitions
• Helaine Blumenfeld Translating Her Vision
• Alastair Gordon A Testament To His Faith
• Sacred Noise: Explores Religion, Faith And Divinity
• Bill Viola: Quiet Contemplative Video Installation St Cuthbert’s Church Edinburgh
• The ground-breaking work of Sister Corita Kent
• Katrina Moss Chaiya Art Awards Interview: Where is God in our 21st century world?
• Picasso To Souza: The Crucifixion Imagery Rarely Exhibited
• Apocalypse Now: Michael Takeo Magruder Interviewed
• Jonathan Anderson: Religious Inspirations Behind Modernism
• Michael Takeo Magruder: De / coding the Apocalypse – Panacea Museum
• Giorgio Griffa: The Golden Ratio And Inexplicable Knowledge
• Arabella Dorman Unveils New Installation At St James Church Piccadilly
• Can Art Transform Society?
• Art Awakening Humanity Conference Report
• Central St Martins in the Fields Design Then And Now
• The Sacramental And Liturgical Nature Of Conceptual Art
• Caravan – An Interview With Rev Paul Gordon Chandler On Arts Peacebuilding
• Art Awakening Humanity Alexander de Cadenet Interviewed
• Polish Art In Britain Centenary Marked At London’s Ben Uri Gallery
• Michael Pendry New Installation Lights Up St Martin In The Fields;
• Mark Dean Projects Stations of the Cross Videos On Henry Moore Altar;
• Refugee Artists Learning from The Lives Of Others;
• The Religious Impulses Of Robert Rauschenberg;
• The Christian Science Connection Within The British Modern Art Movement;
• Artists Rebranding The Christmas Tree Tradition;
• Art Impacted - A Radical Response To Radicalisation;
• The Art of St Martin-in-the-Fields; and
• Was Caravaggio A Good Christian?

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Steve Scott - Different Kind Of Light.

Out and About

One Equall Light was an exhibition themed on the “Sermons and Holy Sonnets of John Donne” was held from 30th June - 20th July, 2014 at St Giles, Cripplegate and St James, Piccadilly. Christian Arts collaborated with Art and Christianity Enquiry on the exhibition organisation and the ACE International Conference was held during the beginning of the exhibition period. The exhibition coincided with the City of London Festival. The exhibition included selected work from Christian Arts members and work from invited artists, Susie Hamilton at St. James and Margot Perryman at St. Giles. Link to the exhibition catalogue here - Catalogue. I attended Sam Wells' talk on 'Art and the Renewal of St Martins' at St Giles Cripplegate (which was part of the ACE conference) with Jean Lamb and Wendy McTernan and then visited the St James Piccadilly half of the exhibition with Wendy again and Hayley Bowen.

Art and Life at Dulwich Picture Gallery: Ben and Winifred Nicholson were at the forefront of the Modern British movement and produced some of the most memorable works of the period. Discover ten years of artistic exploration by the couple in this exhibition curated by their grandson, Jovan Nicholson. It provides a rare opportunity to see their views of the same landscapes, seascapes, still lifes and portraits alongside pieces by contemporaries Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis and the potter William Staite Murray. I thoroughly enjoyed this excellent show when I visited on Friday.

Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing is a Radio 4 comedy that mixes stand-up with re-enacted scenes from comedian Nathan Caton's family life. Regarded as one of the best young comics in the UK, Nathan's award-winning combination of personal and topical anecdotes has lead to appearances on BBC2's Mock The Week, BBC3's Russell Howard's Good News, BBC Radio 4's Now Show, News Quiz. I watched part of the recording of the third series with Paul Trathen.

The sheer variety of work presented each year is what makes the RA's Summer Exhibition an annual highlight of the cultural calendar. I went with Christopher Clack who has 'Teenage Boy', one of his portrait photographs, included in the show. Alongside Chris' marvellous image, in a room which also includes work by James Turrell, is a wonderful video by Everton Wright which was, for me, one of the best things in the show. I also particularly enjoyed work by John Bellany, Peter Freeth, Kaori Homma, Anselm Keifer and Wolfgang Tillmans.

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Gene Clark - Ship Of The Lord.

John Bellany RIP

Speaking of John Bellany, the artist Paul Huxley has said: "He has what I don't have, a gusto for expressing emotional states. Everything comes out - nightmares, joy, exuberance ... his art [has] a wonderfully, salty, gutsy character."

Bellany's paintings exploded with "emotion and imagination" and are "amongst the most confrontational, humanistic works produced in Britain in recent history." Immediately recognisable for its figurative content and stylistic coherence, his painting confronted "in a wholly original manner themes such as love, addiction, passion, death and more recently, even serenity." Not surprising as Bellany lived through numerous surgeries and near death experiences. His life’s work "unveils insight and wisdom into the human condition."

Thom Cross has said that "There is deep spirituality in his work that is profoundly moving, bringing to mind Highland psalms sung in that moving, plaintive style of the Gael." Bellany said of his religious upbringing:

"The deeper it goes in, the better for your soul - so everybody's trying to plumb the depths. It's taken as the most important thing in their whole existence and that moves into secular life as well. We're not just talking about what happens in the church on Sunday but about a person's behaviour on the other six days of the week. You don't just turn it off like a tap. The depths you feel through religion for everyone in your life - it's not a question of a surface recognition of vive la politesse. So the passions run very high."

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The Proclaimers - If There's A God.  

Self-portraits: Stranger

Flowers East was one of the first galleries to open in London's East End, in a former laundry/fur storage facility in Hackney. I was a regular visitor for shows that included work by John Bellany, Nicola Hicks, Peter Howson and John Keane.

In 2002 the gallery moved from Hackney into a 12,000 sq foot industrial space in Shoreditch, East London and, while I've been to shows at the Kingsland Road location, I've not been such a regular visitor. So I enjoyed the opportunity to visit the Gallery this morning with Mal Grosch to see the current exhibition of self portraits by Gallery artists.

Interestingly, many of the artists that were showing with the Gallery in the 1980s are still with them, suggesting both that they have been adept at identifying artists with significant potential and at fostering positive ongoing relationships with such artists. There are, of course, newer artists also in the mix but the jury is still out as to whether these will gain a similar profile to the earlier group that I remember seeing from the '80s onwards.

The exhibition aims to illuminate the relevance of self-portraiture, and its aesthetic value through each individual’s varied approach to self-representation. Historically, the self-portrait was often used as a reference or educational tool; an honest depiction of an artist that reflected the environment in which he or she existed. It enabled the artist to hone their skills, studying their own form as a free and constant model. Artists such as Rembrandt used the self-portrait as a cathartic tool to chronicle their changing physicality and to develop a greater anatomical understanding. It was a method to explore emotive, even distorted facial expressions, typically out of bounds within a commissioned work.

 

The exhibition's title, 'Stranger,' suggests a rather more conflicted approach to self-portraiture from these artists with work that conceals as well as reveals and which deals in image and irony as well as realism.

 

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Duke Special - Portrait.

Exhibitions etc round-up

Repre art collective is a group of artists who have come together to exhibit, celebrate and promote contemporary representational art. They share a common vision to capture and depict reality and express it through diverse and eloquent forms of painting. This is their first collaborative exhibition together and the installation promises to be a vibrant display of contemporary portrait and landscape painting. The choice to hold their first exhibition together in St Martin-in-the-Fields and at the heart of the establishment in Trafalgar Square conveys their desire to raise the profile of contemporary figurative art and what it can truly articulate. Their debut exhibition, Repre 1, was held at The Gallery, St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, WC2N 4JJ, from the 1st - 13th May 2012.

The modern Catholic church of Notre-Dame de France, heralded by an entrance flanked by two pillars decorated with biblical reliefs. Its unusual circular plan is derived from the Panorama, a rotunda 90ft in diameter originally built here and decorated with a scenic cylindrical painting by the Irish artist Robert Barker in 1796. The main point of interest, however, is the church's Chapelle du St-Sacrement, which contains a series of simple frescoes by Jean Cocteau from 1960 and a mosaic by Boris Anrep.

Hauser & Wirth are presenting Thomas Houseago’s ‘Large Owl (For B)’ as part of the gallery’s outdoor sculpture programme at Southwood Garden, St. James’s Church, London. This presentation acts as a preview to Houseago’s debut exhibition with the gallery, opening at Hauser & Wirth’s Savile Row space in September 2012. Rarely seen in the daylight, the owl has long been associated with the supernatural activities of the night and, for many cultures, is a symbol of mystery, wisdom and vigilance. Houseago’s ‘Large Owl (For B)’ will watch over the unique setting of Southwood Garden, a tranquil enclosure nestled in between London’s busiest streets, until mid-July.

John Bellany's paintings at Beaux Arts explode with emotion and imagination and are amongst the most confrontational, humanistic works produced in Britain in recent history. Immediately recognisable for its figurative content and stylistic coherence, his painting confronts in a wholly original manner themes such as love, addiction, passion, death and more recently, even serenity. Not surprising as Bellany has lived through numerous surgeries and near death experiences. This exhibition of oils, watercolours and drawings spans five decades of Bellany’s life. It demonstrates the innumerable ways in which his life’s work unveils insight and wisdom into the human condition.

Four the Love of Art is an exhibition featuring the diverse work of four internationally renowned artists; Carly Casey (Sydney), Anna Coroneo (New York), Natalie Tkachuk (London) and Kareena Zerefos (London). The artists have collaborated in creating this unique show, celebrating their individual and distinctive styles. Exhibited artworks range across a broad spectrum of media including: painting, drawing and photography.

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Ed Sheeran - Small Bump.