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Showing posts with label guzman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guzman. Show all posts

Saturday, 20 June 2026

International Times: Vitality and Magic

My latest exhibition review for International Times is on 'Hulda Guzman: Please awake – asked Nature kindly' at Turner Contemporary:

'Surrealism and Magic Realism have both had infuential Latin American expressions. The Caribbean islands and Mexico City were all ‘places of convergence and relay for Surrealism’ (including the work of Frida Kahlo and Leonora Carrington), while Magic Realism was a term originally used in relation to the fantastical elements of European Romanticism and the religious aspects of novels by Fyodor Dostoevesky before becoming a descriptor for the Neue Sachlichkeit paintings of 1920’s Germany and then the strapline for the novels of South American writers, starting with Jorge Luis Borges.

The paintings of Hulda Guzmán find their own significant space within this web of influences and prior expressions.'

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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Joni Mitchell - Sweet Bird.


Sunday, 31 May 2026

Kent: Chatham, Margate, Canterbury and Dover

 





































































From a base of The Lodge at Knowlton Court, I've enjoyed visits to Chatham Dockyard, Canterbury, Deal, Dover Castle, Margate, and Wingham Wildlife Park over the past week.

The story of Chatham Dockyard and its people can be discovered in immersive exhibition galleries, such as Command of the Oceans and The Ropery. Three historic warships can be explored to learn about warship construction, refit and repair and examine important objects related to the Dockyard and the wider maritime world from the collections of Royal Museums Greenwich and Imperial War Museums.

Canterbury is a medieval walled city that has been hosting visitors for more than 1,000 years. Founded by St Augustine in 597 AD, Canterbury Cathedral is a unique place of worship, a major pilgrimage destination, a masterpiece of art and architecture, and one of the UK's most-visited historic sites. Often referred to as ‘England in stone', the Cathedral has been at the centre of momentous events and upheavals. It is the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion, seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, UNESCO World Heritage Site, and resting place of royalty and saints.

'Sacred Resonance' by Renaud Muraire is an exhibition reimagining Christian Iconography at Canterbury Cathedral. Muraire’s paintings create a powerful dialogue between traditional Christian iconography and contemporary human experience. Drawing on biblical narratives that continue to resonate today, his work explores universal emotions, challenges, and aspirations, offering space for reflection on identity and lived experience.

Influenced by High Renaissance and Baroque masters such as Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, and Rubens, Muraire presents biblical figures as deeply human, using gesture, colour, and expression to bring emotional immediacy to familiar stories. His work honours the historic role of sacred art as a source of comfort, guidance, and shared belief, while reinterpreting it for a modern audience. Exhibited in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral, these paintings present sacred imagery as a living language.

Commanding the shortest sea crossing between England and the continent, Dover Castle has a long and immensely eventful history. Known as the ‘key to England’, this great fortress has played a crucial role in the defence of the realm for over nine centuries, a span equalled only by the Tower of London and Windsor Castle. Visitors can immerse themselves in the drama of the Dunkirk evacuation of May 1940, in the very tunnels where the operation – codenamed 'Dynamo' – was masterminded. Guided tours through the tunnels use state-of-the-art special effects, dramatic projections and real film footage to bring this dramatic rescue operation to life.

Margate is a uniquely creative, historically important community, shaped by generations of artists and makers. Turner Contemporary continues that legacy—supporting local people, local businesses and the local visitor economy through our programming, marketing and events. Turner Contemporary celebrates Margate’s unique community, culture, and history through an ever-changing programme of events, opportunities, and free exhibitions by international artists. 

Their current exhibition is 'Hulda Guzmán: Please awake – asked Nature kindly'. Guzmán’s paintings open portals into vibrant, dreamlike worlds, where the artist, her family, animals and mythical beings exist in close dialogue with nature. Drawing on folk art, Caribbean vernacular traditions, and art history while spanning a decade of work and featuring new, large-scale works, the exhibition introduces Guzmán’s vibrant vision of landscape as a site of mysticism and ecological consciousness to Margate.

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Talk Talk - Eden.