Discover & explore: Patrick Heron (Art)

Today's Discover & explore service at St Stephen Walbrook, explored the theme of art through the life and work of Patrick Heron. The service featured the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields singing Come, ye sons of art by Henry Purcell, Super flumina Babylonis by Giovanni da Palestrina, Aspire to God My Soul by David Bednall and Cantate Domino by Pitoni.

The next Discover & explore service is on Monday 3 April at 1.10pm when, together with the Choral Scholars, I will explore the theme of internet (and the London Internet Church) through the life and work of Peter Delaney.

There will then be a short break and the next series of Discover & explore services, which will explore Reformation500 themes, will begin on 24th April.

In today's service I said:

The Guardian’s obituary for Patrick Heron was entitled ‘The Colour of Genius’. In it, Heron was lauded as having been “one of the half dozen important British painters of the twentieth century.” “Many things contributed to this country's late awakening to the power and importance of modern art after the second world war, but among them Heron's work as painter, critic, and polemicist was a key factor.”

Heron was one of Britain’s foremost abstract painters. He was also a writer and designer, based in St. Ives, Cornwall. He lived in Cornwall as a child from the age of five and returned there for the final 14 months of the war in order to work for the potter, Bernard Leach. “One of his friends was the Guardian journalist Mark Arnold-Forster, who, a few years later, sold him Eagle's Nest, a house with a famous garden high above the Atlantic at Zennor, near St Ives, where Heron had spent childhood holidays. Heron's move to Eagle's Nest coincided with his move into non-figurative painting, and among his first works of the period were the garden paintings, opalescent meshes of colour streaked and dribbled vertically on to the canvases.”

His work became recognised for its bold use of colour and light which redefined British abstract art in the 1960’s. Initially inspired by the French painters Henri Matisse and Georges Braque, he turned to abstraction in his mid-30s, under the influence of Abstract Expressionism, in particular the Colour Field Painting style popularized by Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman. His work is noted for its saturated colour and – despite being unmistakeably abstract – the essential naturalism of its forms. These qualities are apparent in the dazzling kneelers he designed in 1993 to surround Henry Moore’s circular altar at St Stephen Walbrook.

Heron insisted that he ‘was not a member of any church’ and his images were made from a ‘purely pictorial experience’. Our kneelers were the only work he made for a church and the only other Ecclesiastical connection to his work is that the Methodist Collection of Art purchased a painting of a Crucifix and Candles at Night, which is derived from a part of a painting by Titian in the National Gallery. Frances Hoyland speaking about this image said “Heron has used his senses - his body - his flesh -and made something attractive; and maybe he, too, was a channel of Grace.”

I think that another way in which Heron was a channel of grace was through his forging of images from natural forms. His garden paintings were a response to the petals and leaves of the camellias and azaleas that were in flower all over the garden at Eagle’s Nest, their home in St Ives, when he and his wife arrived there to live. Similarly, the paintings that he was making when he died were typical of his style in their use of vibrant colour, and in their imagery, which alluded to the flowers and rocks found around the Cornish coast.

His use of natural forms to create abstract art is a point of connection with Henry Moore who said: “I’ve found the principles of form and rhythm from the study of natural objects.” The architect Antoni Gaudi described nature as “the Great Book, always open, that we should force ourselves to read” and thought that “everything structural or ornamental that an architect might imagine was already prefigured in natural form.”

The argument that Gaudi made begins with God as the creator of all and continues with the recognition that all God made was good. So, when artists or architects base their work on natural forms they are working with God’s good creation and thereby, as his creation reveals his goodness, reflecting and revealing the glory of God. Although Moore and Heron would not necessarily have acknowledged it, in basing their work on natural forms they were reflecting and revealing the glory of God.

Heron’s kneelers do so in a particularly profound manner. They bring the wild fecundity of natural forms into a geometrically ordered building, they bring vibrant colour into the light and dark contrasts of the stone and panelling, and they use these colourful natural forms to designate sacred space. The geometrical perfection of Wren’s architectural design focuses our attention on God’s perfect nature. The wild vibrancy of Heron’s natural forms focuses our attention on the love of God which exceeds all bounds, particularly in Christ’s sacrifice of himself on the cross which shapes and is central to our worship and this space.

In these ways he was, I think, a channel of grace. That thought leads me to another; that he may also have been a recipient of grace. The Guardian's art critic, Adrian Searle, wrote of Heron’s last paintings: "There's an enormous freedom and vitality in them. They are about pleasure and the spirit gets free rein. I certainly don't think he was staring into the dark void of looming death. Quite the opposite."

Intercessions:

Creator of all things, seen and unseen, we praise you for the works of your hand. We declare that you are sovereign over our lives, and that you are the originator of all good things. We humbly ask that you would grant us new ideas, even now. Bless our labours. Fulfill your creative purposes in us today. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer

Creator of the Universe, how infinite and astonishing are your worlds. Thank you for your Sacred Art and sustaining Presence. Divine Imagination, forgive our blindness, open our eyes. Reveal the Light of Truth. Let original Beauty guide our every stroke. Universal Creativity, flow through us, from our hearts through our minds to my hands, infuse our work with spirit to feed hungry souls. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer

Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Three in One, we praise you for the extravagant love that you demonstrate in the creation of this world. We ask that you form in us a community of artists that reflect the Divine Community, marked by self-giving love, infectious joy and the desire to honour and glorify the name of God. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer

The Blessing:

Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of life, Power and Fire, we praise you for sustaining all things in being, energizing them with vitality, and ushering them to their future and final state of glory. Purify our souls; scour our hearts; re-order our minds; strengthen our bodies. Free us to be playful today. And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

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Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina - Super flumina Babylonis.

Artistic heritage: St Martin-in-the-Fields and St Stephen Walbrook

One of many exciting aspects to the role of Priest for Partnership Development that I have recently begun is the opportunity to connect with the way in which both churches have engaged with the visual arts.

St Stephen Walbrook is an Anglican Parish Church rich in heritage but one which remains actively involved in the City of London. The current church was built by Sir Christopher Wren 1672-80 and accommodates a major and controversial reordering centred around Henry Moore's circular altar.

After the bombing of World War Two St Stephen Walbrook was restored and the interior was redesigned to express contemporary worship. Most of the fittings had been burnt or destroyed and it meant that seating and altar arrangements could be thought out again. Thus it was that Henry Moore was persuaded to design and carve a central altar using travertine marble from the quarry near Rome used by Michelangelo. Commissioned by Lord Palumbo, the altar was carved in 1972.

The Ven. Peter Delaney has written that by carving a round altar table with forms cut into the circular sides Moore suggested that the centre of the church reflected the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem commemorating the sacrifice of Abraham and Isaac as a prefiguring of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross and the place for the offering of the Eucharist at the heart of Christian worship. This place was designed for people to gather as a community around the altar where God could be found at the centre. The axis of the church is now under the dome designed by Sir Christopher Wren and no longer has an east west orientation. This speaks of this new century where we see God at the centre of all life as the Moore altar is at the centre of this church and this church is at the centre of this city.

The restoration cost £1. 3 million. The altar measuring 8ft across and weighing several tons was at the centre of a controversy and court case as a result of objections and eventually was resolved by going to the highest ecclesiastical court of the land, the Court of Ecclesiastical Cases Reserved where the judges ruled that the Moore altar was acceptable as an altar for the Church of England!

Moore’s altar is complemented by colourful abstract kneelers designed by Patrick Heron and candlesticks designed and made by Hans Coper. The building was finally rededicated in 1987.

Trafalgar Square is well known as the location for the world famous art collections in the National Portrait Gallery and National Gallery. But in the Crypt of St Martin-in-the-Fields there is also a special space for art lovers, as the Gallery in the Crypt’s dramatic 18th Century architecture makes a stunning backdrop to display modern art and photography.

St Martin-in-the-Fields is also home to several commissions and permanent installations by contemporary artists. Nicholas Holtham has written that, as an adjunct to the main renewal project at St Martin's, "an Arts Advisory Panel was formed and a series of commissions have helped to complete the transformation of the building." These include:

Processional Cross, 2013, by Brian Catling: Catling’s exquisite design references a ‘cross of poverty’: not an ornate object, but one crafted from basic materials by someone with the simple desire to fashion the powerful symbol of the Cross. The starting point is two pieces of wood humbly tied together by a length of string; a third piece of wood hanging from the centre provides an allusion to St Martin tearing his cloak in two and giving half to a beggar. Through casting the cross in a strong yet lightweight aluminium and gilding it in white gold, Catling’s original idea is transformed into an extraordinary emblem of the church. Throughout the process the cross has been worked on by hand, creating an original and conceptually complex work.

East Window, 2008, by Shirazeh Houshiary and Pip Horne: The East Window was commissioned as part of the Renewal of St Martin-in-the-Fields, our major £36m building project from 2005-2008. Light was a key theme of the project and the East Window was designed to let in as much light as possible while creating a work of art that is uplifting and inspirational. The artist was given a brief suggesting a minimal, possibly monochromatic design would be appropriate and that a potential starting point or subject was that of ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, a story which has had a continuous thread of resonance for St Martin’s.

Altar, 2011, by Shirazeh Houshiary & Pip Horne: The Altar is designed by Shirazeh Houshiary and Pip Horne, creators of our East Window, and was dedicated at the Patronal Festival in celebration of our patron saint, St Martin of Tours on 13 November 2011. The Altar is at the symbolic and spiritual heart of our church. It is the place where we gather together in communion with one another and with God, and where broken bread and shared wine become the signs of God’s everlasting love for us. It is a sacred space, the place of transformation, the altar upon which we remember the death of Christ and the suffering of the world, but also the place of resurrection and hope. Designed to complement the East Window, the Altar is made from a single block of Travertine Stone that appears to float on a plinth of dark stained oak. These materials have been selected to harmonise with the colours used in the interior of the church. It is gently illuminated by LED lights placed within the hollowed out stone.

The Saint John’s Bible, Heritage edition, presented to St Martin-in-the-Fields in 2009: Created by the monks of Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota under the creative direction of Donald Jackson, the Saint John’s Bible is a union of an ancient Benedictine tradition with the technology and vision of today, illuminating the Word of God for a new millennium of multiple cultures and multiple faiths. St Martin-in-the-Fields has been given a Heritage Edition of the Saint John’s Bible. It was a gift from Saint John’s Abbey made possible by the generosity of Dan and Katherine Whalen. Created in a series of seven volumes, the bible is used in services in Church and some of the volumes are on permanent display in the Foyer. The Saint John’s Bible was commissioned in 1998 by the Roman Catholic Benedictine Monks of Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota. It was created by a team of scribes, artists and craftspeople in a scriptorium in Monmouthshire under the artistic direction of Donald Jackson, one of the world’s foremost calligraphers and the scribe to HM Queen Elizabeth ll’s Crown Office and the House of Lords. Measuring more than two feet by three feet, the bible parallels that of its medieval predecessors, written on vellum, using quills, natural handmade inks, hand-ground pigments and gold leaf while incorporating modern themes, images and technology of the 21st century.

In the Beginning by Mike Chapman, presented to St Martin-in-the-Fields in 1999: Mike Chapman’s beautiful sculpture In the Beginning was commissioned to mark the new millennium and was part of the 1999 Trafalgar Square Christmas celebrations. Carved in a 4.5 tonne block of Portland Stone, this work is now permanently on display at the entrance to the church. In The beginning is well-loved by thousands of visitors to St Martin’s every year and as the artist said “It seemed to me that a tiny life-size baby craved from stone in such an enormous environment would be the best way to remind us all of just whose birthday we are celebrating.”

Shadow No 66 (triptych) 1996 by Brad Lochore: This oil on canvas by Brad Lochore explores the fleeting essence of an object using the effects of light mediated via cinema and photography. Lochore’s paintings poetically underline the impermanence and fragility of our lives, and remind us that although we may recognize real things in such artworks, they are after all illusory. Shadow No 66 (triptych) is on permanent display in the Crypt. Brad Lochore says, “On a metaphorical level shadows are a sign of absence – they indicate the ‘not being there’ of the thing they depict – and that is a very persuasive way to talk about the problem of the picture. For instance, an apple in a painting, no matter how beautifully painted, is not there. It seems to me that a critical part of being a painter is not just to make pretty pictures – it’s to address the problem of pictures. And for me, painting shadows, which is predominantly what I do, is a way I can remorselessly address that dilemma. The dilemma is that the human senses have never been assaulted by so much imagery as now, and I think we forget that. Every minute we encounter a world mediated by pictures, so the ‘real’ is mainly conveyed through images now. And that is not to mourn the passing of a better time, it’s just to recognise how the world is. It seems to me that one of the primary tasks of art is to foreground that problem”

Tapestry by Gerhard Richter: In the Dick Sheppard Chapel, a tapestry by Gerhard Richter has been lent by a generous donor. Rev. Richard Carter writes that the tapestry fills this small chapel with light and energy, warmth and imagination. It is like hanging resurrection on the wall. Sit and gaze at the colours; the cross that leads you through layers into the beyond.

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Nickel Creek - Reasons Why.