Francis Bacon: Wrestling with unknown faith

The Church Times has just published an interesting review of Crucifixions: Francis Bacon at St Stephen Walbrook in which Nicholas Cranfield sagely remarks that:

"As so often, artists reveal more of themselves in drawings than in other media; the current Lenten hang at St Stephen Walbrook, in the City of London, will come as a shock to those who think that they know their Bacon, and as a surprise to those who want to find a space for their prayer and devotions away from the harsh savagery of the Square Mile ...

The graphics themselves show Bacon wrestling with the unknown faith that for some lies behind such images."

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Jon Foreman - You Don't Know How Beautiful You Are.

Walbrook Art Group Talks

The Walbrook Art Group spans the e-congregation of the London Internet Church and the St Stephen Walbrook community bringing both together. Twice a year people gather at Walbrook for a presentation on artists and faith and make visits to galleries, artist studios etc to reflect further on the connections between art and faith. Talks this Lent have been given by: Revd Stephen Baxter, Lynda Keen, Sarah White and Dharshan Thenuwara.

Last Wednesday Alan Everett and I both gave talks to the group. Alan spoke about his 'Foundations of the City' exhibition in terms of its origin in his recent sabbatical and inspiration gained from 'The Dream of the Rood'. I gave a brief summary of modern sacred art in order to give a context for the viewing of Alan's exhibition. 

In relation to Alan's work I said the following: In inviting Alan Everett to exhibit here I was engaged by the organic nature of his work as he combines the deliberation of his rhythmic mark marking with the more random effects of drips and splashes; all cohering through his overall perception of the evolving work. Nicholas Cranfield, too, has noted that Alan Everett’s “technique is to bring some definition to a range of splashed and thrown paint that explodes into shapes, some more legible than others, making marks that appear both out of focus and out of time and yet never stray far from the first idea.” This brings the work of the Abstract Expressionists, and Jackson Pollock in particular, to mind. Nicholas Cranfield also sees that "There is something Mark Rothko-like in the way that the artist has explored the contrast between the coloured shape of the cross and the stark background of unrelenting darkness.” As a result, Alan seems to be engaged with that non-representational sense of the divine which has links to the idea of art as a window into the divine.

At 1.00pm on Wednesday 9 March and Saturday 12 March Art Group member Dharshan Thenuwara is offering tours of the outside of William Morris' Red House and garden. The tours will last about an hour and a half and will cost £3.00 a head. This does not include admission to the house.
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M Ward - Confession.

Review of 'Foundations of the City'

Nicholas Cranfield reviews 'Foundations of the City' by Alan Everett, the current exhibition at St Stephen Walbrook, in today's Church Times:

"There is something Mark Rothko-like in the way that the artist has explored the contrast between the coloured shape of the cross and the stark background of unrelenting darkness ...

I particularly enjoyed Cosmic Cross, in which stars and nebula appear inside the shape of the cross, as if we are glimpsing the night sky through an open window. In the cross we see not just salvation, but the whole purpose of God’s creation, albeit darkly."

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Carson Cooman - A Cosmic Prayer.

Cultural enrichment from outside

For the last day of my short post-Easter break I've been at Tate Britain to see the Migrations and Picasso and Modern British Art exhibitions.
Migrations: Journeys into British Art explores British art through the theme of migration from 1500 to the present day, reflecting the remit of Tate Britain Collection displays. From the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Flemish and Dutch landscape and still-life painters who came to Britain in search of new patrons, through moments of political and religious unrest, to Britain’s current position within the global landscape, the exhibition reveals how British art has been fundamentally shaped by successive waves of migration.

Picasso and Modern British Art explores Picasso's extensive legacy and influence on British art, how this played a role in the acceptance of modern art in Britain, alongside the fascinating story of Picasso’s lifelong connections to and affection for this country. It offers the rare opportunity to see celebrated artworks by Picasso alongside seven of his most brilliant British admirers, exploring the huge impact he had on their art: Duncan Grant, Wyndham Lewis, Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore, Francis Bacon, Graham Sutherland and David Hockney.

Nicholas Cranfield reviews both in the current edition of the Church Times arguing that they are two mag­nificent shows celebrating the very best of British art, with a strong reminder that it is often foreign-bred or in­fluenced by life on mainland Europe:

"So much cultural en­richment has come from outside that we would be foolish not to recognise its value. In which direction would British art have gone without Holbein and Lely or Kauffmann and Singer Sargent?

Like the exhibition “Migrations”, [Picasso and Modern British Art], too, provides viewers with a new way of looking at familiar art, and in several cases provided a real oppor­tunity for a rethink. It would be unfair to claim that Picasso alone stirred British art from the lethargy of the Edwardian salon, but the effect of his work’s becoming known after 1910, thanks to Roger Fry, is difficult to underestimate."

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U2 - The Hands That Built America.

Spirituality, creativity and the Arts (2)

Last Saturday I was involved in '... hearts and hands and voices...’, this year’s Exploring Spirituality Day in the Diocese of St Albans.

Revd. Nicholas Cranfield, Vicar of All Saints' Blackheath and Arts Correspondent for the Church Times, was the keynote speaker. He spoke about the significance of shaping sacred space in churches, as much for those who are secular but visit churches, as for those who do share the Christian tradition. Symbols, in particular, mark out sacred space; as with the Christ in Majesty seen at St Andrew's Bedford, where we were meeting. He noted the various extremes within the Church in relation to this issue from the Iconostasis' of Orthodox Churches to the boarded up stained glass of Anglican churches in the Diocese of Sydney but outlined a Biblical basis for the Christian visual tradition beginning with Bezalel and his fellow workers who were filled with the Spirit for their artistic design work through to Christ as the visible image of the invisible God.

In the workshop which I led, we explored connections between the Psalms and popular song. Statements on different aspects of the Psalms made by Dennis Potter, Nick Cave and Bono were illustrated with songs from Stacie Orrico, Evanescence and the Black Eyed Peas. Discussion of these statements and songs led on to workshop participants beginning to write their own contemporary psalms.        

This was my second year of leading workshops at the Exploring Spirituality Day and on both occasions those attending have been particularly enthusiastic and engaged.

Alan Stewart, Vicar of St Andrew's Hertford, who is one of the Exploring Spirituality Day organisers has an exhibition at St Mary's Hertingfordbury on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th November. The exhibition will feature striking charcoals and vibrant oils.

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Black Eyed Peas - Where Is The Love?

Spirituality, Creativity & the Arts

‘... hearts and hands and voices...’ What’s it all about?

We are surrounded by music and image, and our everyday lives are permeated with words - both spoken and written. Creativity - our own and that of others - fills the space around us all the time.

This year’s Exploring Spirituality Day in the Diocese of St Albans, offers space and time to explore and ponder and wonder at all that surrounds us and all that fills us - calling us to respond with hearts and hands and voices.

You may recognise the phrase which forms the title of this year’s Exploring Spirituality Day from the hymn, Now thank we all our God, written by Martin Rinkart and translated by Katherine Winkworth. It is a wonderful hymn that recognises God’s wondrous works, calls us to praise His name, and prays for God to be with us through life in all its various ways.

The Workshops on this day will provide space to find new ways of exploring the Creative Arts and how we might pray and worship with and through them. Looking across the range of the Creative Arts, at the end of the day, the aim is that people to go away with tools for the journey that will inform and enhance the spiritual journey - the journey with God.

Doctor Nicholas Cranfield is keynote speaker. Nicholas is a parish priest in South East London (Diocese of Southwark) and for the past fifteen years he has contributed regular art reviews to the Church Times and led gallery tours and exhibition visits. He is a member of the Southwark Diocesan Advisory Committee for the care of churches (DAC) and is currently Hon Secretary of the British Section of the UNESCO body the International Association of Art Critics (AICA UK). He is writing a book on Roman Art from 1600 to 1610.

Workshop 1 : What can you see? What does Jesus show us? This workshop will explore how the Incarnation can inform what we deem as Christian Art and will suggest contexts for exploring this, drawing from the churches and experiences of participants. The Rev’d Nicholas Cranfield is Vicar of Blackheath and Arts Correspondent for The Church Times.

Workshop 2 : Writing the blues The Psalms for our own age. The Psalms have been, through the years, the ‘back bone’ of Christian worship: many hymns and prayers call upon their imagery and language. How might we respond to them today and, more importantly, how might we create our own? The Rev’d Jonathan Evens is Vicar of St. John’s, Seven Kings. He is also a published author, poet and artist.

Workshop 3 : "Touch me and see" An invitation to prayer using all our senses. Words of Jesus to his disciples as they grasped at the truth of the Resurrection. Words which remind us that the journey of faith involves all of our being and not just our powers of thought. This workshop invites us to experience and explore how we might pray through quiet corners and sacred spaces, and through the use of all of our senses. The Rev’d Ruth Pyke is the Children’s Work Advisor for Bedfordshire and Priest-in-Charge of All Saints, Caddington.

Workshop 4 : To be in your presence... Movement to speak the presence of God. Let the body speak: listen to it; learn from it. An opportunity to explore how, by developing greater body awareness, both in movement and stillness, we may find a way deeper into the presence of God. The Rev’d Carole Selby is Team Vicar with responsibility for St James, Goffs Oak, within the Cheshunt Team Ministry.

Workshop 5 : Images or Idols Exploring the use of images in worship. This workshop will explore the way in which images (Icons) are used in worship and how they contribute to the spirituality of the Eastern Church, where the interiors of Church buildings are richly decorated. Participants will have the opportunity to explore the tradition of icon painting by creating their own icon. No previous experience is required. The Rev’d David Ridgeway is Vicar of St. Stephen’s, St Albans.

Workshop 6 : Sing your heart out Singing the passion and emotion of faith. ‘They who sing, pray twice’, said St Augustine. Sometimes music can unlock passions and desires and heartfelt yearnings after God that we didn’t even realise were there. Come with some experience of singing or none - come with an ear to listen and a heart to be ‘strangely warmed’, and see what you might discover. The Rev’d Deborah Snowball is Priest-in-Charge of St. Mary the Virgin, Rickmansworth.

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Van Morrison - Hymns To The Silence.

"... hearts and hands and voices ..."

"... hearts and hands and voices ..." Spirituality, Creativity and The Arts is the title for this year's Exploring Spirituality Day in the Diocese of St Albans to be held on Saturday 23rd October at St Andrew's Bedford.

As the publicity for the event explains, we are surrounded by music and image, and our everyday lives are permeated with words - both spoken and written. Creativity - our own and that of others - fills the space around us all the time. So, this year’s Exploring Spirituality Day, offers space and time to explore and ponder and wonder at all that surrounds us and all that fills us - calling us to respond with hearts and hands and voices.

You may recognise the phrase which forms the title of this year’s Exploring Spirituality Day from the hymn, Now thank we all our God, written by Martin Rinkart and translated by Katherine Winkworth. It is a wonderful hymn that recognises God’s wondrous works, calls us to praise His name, and prays for God to be with us through life in all its various ways.

The organiser's hope that the Workshops on this day will provide space to find new ways of exploring the Creative Arts and how we might pray and worship with and through them. Looking across the range of the Creative Arts, at the end of the day, they want people to go away with tools for the journey that will inform and enhance the spiritual journey - the journey with God.

Doctor Nicholas Cranfield is the keynote speaker. Nicholas is a parish priest in South East London (Diocese of Southwark) and for the past fifteen years he has contributed regular art reviews to the Church Times and led gallery tours and exhibition visits. He is a member of the Southwark Diocesan Advisory Committee for the care of churches (DAC) and is currently Hon Secretary of the British Section of the UNESCO body the International Association of Art Critics (AICA UK). He is writing a book on Roman Art from 1600 to 1610.

As last year, I will be leading one of the workshops. This year, my theme will be Writing the blues: The Psalms for our own age. The Psalms have been, through the years, the ‘back bone’ of Christian worship: many hymns and prayers call upon their imagery and language. How might we respond to them today and, more importantly, how might we create our own?

Other workshops are: What can you see? What does Jesus show us? - led by Nicholas Cranfield; Touch me and see: An invitation to prayer using all our senses - led by Ruth Pyke; To be in your presence: Movement to speak the presence of God - led by Carole Selby; Sing your heart out: Singing the passion and emotion of faith - led by Deborah Snowball; and Images or Idols: Exploring the use of images in worship - led by David Ridgeway.

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Leon Russell, Willie Nelson, Maria Muldaur & Bonnie Raitt - Trouble In Mind.