We had a great launch night for
the 'Run
with the Fire' exhibition. It was a packed event with some memorable
performances in the context of a stimulating and eclectic show. I read The Mark, a Mark of the Cross meditation and my Run with the Fire poem:
Stripped down - free of weights and encumbrance -
muscles taut and trained, eyes on the prize -
on track, no turning back - forgetting what is behind,
straining toward what is ahead, winged feet
bearing tongues of flame - inextinguishable flickers
of hope, the torch passed on through generations,
message of victory - peace, goodwill to all.
How lovely are the feet - run red-raw, blistered
and calloused, dust-encrusted yet lithe as leopards
and fleet as foxes - which pound the mountains,
hills, valleys and plains, echoing through history
from Marathon to London via Jerusalem.
It was great to read poetry to an audience which included Steve Turner, whose poetry and music journalism - including Up To Date and Hungry for Heaven among others - I've appreciated greatly over the years.
The Launch Night
provided the first opportunity to see the exhibition which includes ceramics,
paintings and sculptures, together with a digital exhibition on
Olympic/Pentecost themes. Performances by singer-songwriter and poet Malcolm
Guite, artist-musician Colin
Burns, musician-poet Steve Scott and performance poet Tamsin
Kendrick added to the exploration of the exhibition's theme - running
life's race with passion and spirit.
Tamsin Kendrick
performed vibrant, earthy poems based on the parable of the Prodigal Son and
Psalm 139, Steve Scott shared work in progress based on incidents from John's
Gospel, Colin Burns played three pieces from his debut CD Emerald&Gold,
while Malcolm Guite made a great job of
linking themes from the artworks and other performances with poems from his sonnet sequence
for the Church Year and from his CD Dancing
through the fire.
I'll be giving a talk at the exhibition as part of a programme of art talks and painting demonstrations on Saturday 26th May:
- Painting demonstration – Harvey Bradley, ongoing throughout the day. See
Harvey work on a painting and discuss his approach with him.
- The Spiritual Image in Modern Art - Mark Lewis, 11.30am. A broad
overview of the spiritual impulse in the art forms of the modern world and their
potential to turn our minds to higher things.
- Run with the Fire – Steve Scott, 12.30pm. A talk about the ‘Run
with the Fire’ project and DVD.
- Stanley Spencer – A Visionary of our Time – Mark Lewis, 2.00pm. A
talk which examines the life and work of one of Britain’s most renowned and
eccentric 20th Century painters. The main themes include Spencer’s time as a war
artist, and his extraordinary paintings which envision the Christian Gospels
played out by the people in his beloved home town of Cookham.
- Praying with our eyes open – Glenn Lowcock, 3.00pm. A talk on using
images as an aid to prayer.
- Emotional Tourist – Steve Scott, 4.00pm. What I am learning about
art, life, spirituality, Trinity, and relational aesthetics from my travels in
Bali and elsewhere.
- Christian influences on modern & contemporary art – Jonathan
Evens, 5.00pm. A broad overview of modern and contemporary art and artists which
engage with Christianity.
The Run with the Fire exhibition is at the Strand
Gallery (32 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6BP) and can
be seen from 22nd - 27th May (11.00am - 6.00pm, Sunday 11.00am - 2.00pm), as
part of the Pentecost Festival. The event listing for the exhibition and launch night can be found at: http://www.pentecostfestival.co.uk/ai1ec_event/run-with-the-fire-exhibition/?instance_id=873.
Directions to the gallery are at: https://www.proudonline.co.uk/contact.aspx.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tamsin Kendrick - This City Needs A Hero.
