Between: lucie-smith

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Saturday, 28 March 2020

Artlyst: Art And Faith - A Time For Seeing

My latest article for Artlyst reflects on the possibilities that lockdown provides for contemplation through art:

'Works of art create their own space for contemplation and come alive when they are contemplated; firstly by the artist in their creation and secondly in their viewing by those who come to look. Art galleries are, therefore, places of contemplation and are generally constructed to facilitate this purpose, i.e. as minimalist white cubes containing little that will distract the viewer from the art ...

Whether we see connections or disjunctions between art and faith, this would seem to be a time for seeing – for insight – whether creating or contemplating. How will the art world create cells of contemplation now the galleries are closed and how will the cells we create teach us everything we need to know?'

My other Artlyst pieces are:

Interviews:

Articles:

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The Blind Boys of Alabama (featuring Justin Vernon) - Every Grain Of Sand.

Sunday, 21 January 2018

Claudio Crismani concert: Music by Jean Barraqué & Franz Liszt

Special concert by Claudio Crismani: Music by Jean Barraqué & Franz Liszt. Homage to Portopiccolo Female Art 2018. Thursday 25 January, 6.30pm, St Stephen Walbrook.

Biography of Claudio Crismani

"Claudio Crismani is an amazing, daring and magnetic artist.”

With these words American critic John Maxim concludes his review on Music Life about Claudio Crismani’s concert dedicated to Scriabin’s music. The music by Russian composer Alexander Scriabin has always been at the centre of Crismani’s artistic interests.

Crismani was born in Trieste and he began studying music with Andrea Giorgi as a young boy. Between Andro and Claudio a solid, lifelong fraternal friendship was built in time. He continued studying piano with Alessandro Costantinides and composition with Mario Bugamelli, graduating with full marks at the Bolzano Conservatory. He then perfected his technique studying with Marguerite Kazuro in Warsaw for five years.

His international career began in Paris in 1979 with a recital at the "Salle Pleyel" and a series of radio and tv recordings for "France Musique". Since then he has performed all over Europe, Russia, Israel, USA, Japan and Australia and in the most distinguished concert halls. He has worked with directors such as James Lawrence Levine, Cristoph von Dohnányi and Thomas Sanderling and performed with internationally renowned orchestras, among which: The London Philharmonic Orchestra, The Philharmonia Orchestra, The European Community Chamber Orchestra, Les Solistes de Moscou, The Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra and The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 1986 Claudio Crismani was invited to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Liszt’s death by performing twelve concerts in England and playing the complete “Années de Pèlerinage" and the transcriptions of Wagner’s operas. In 1987, UNESCO named him "European Artist" and invited him to perform at the "International Music Soiree" at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. That same year he was appointed "Guest Artist" of the Van Leer Foundation in Jerusalem and under this aegis he became co-founder of the Horowitz Festival.

In the Nineties, he staged a three-evening performance of the complete Poems and Sonatas for piano by Scriabin, which was repeated several times in different countries. He had an exclusive record contract with RS for twelve years and won two Discographic Awards. This period was marked by an important collaboration and friendship with the great Russian pianist Lazar Berman. His performance of Scriabin’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra together with The London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Sanderling and recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall in London, was a true publishing success story.

After a concert tour in 2002/2003 marking his thirtieth year of artistic activity (he was described as one of the major artists of his generation), Claudio Crismani decided to retire from the concert scene and devote himself exclusively to a long period of study.

In 2014, he returned on the musical scene – among others - with “The Prometheus Project”, which is a transposition of Alexander Scriabin’s “Promethean” dream, designed to be a literary, artistic and (of course) musical experience. He rewrote it together with his friend Edward Lucie-Smith as a synesthetic blend, suspended between visual art and music, literature and history.

Here, Pasternak and Scriabin intersect with contemporary traits, tracing a hitherto undescribed randomness of real- life moments spanning from Russia to Trieste and present and future human relations developing between Trieste and London.

In 2015, Claudio Crismani returned on the international scene at the exhibition on Boris Pasternak: “la Genesi del Sogno” (The Genesis of the Dream). The event highlighted artworks by Oleg Kudryashov, photographs by Moisei Nappelbaum and Crismani’s concert (performed strictly on a Fazioli piano) at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, and repeated in 2016 in Cividale del Friuli with a tribute to Boulez, and in London, at St. Stephen Walbrook, playing Boulez, Liszt and Scriabin.

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Claudio Crismani - Friss-Lassan.

Friday, 27 October 2017

Art awakening humanity

Art awakening humanity was an afternoon of short talks and meditations organised by St Stephen Walbrook in partnership with Awakened Artists and Watkins Mind Body Spirit Magazine. The event included contributions from artists, collectors & spiritual teachers centered around the relationship between art and the spiritual dimension. Inspired by a recent interview with Eckhart Tolle in Mind Body Spirit Magazine, the afternoon offered a wide range of perspectives on our theme of art awakening humanity. Participants described the event as: "Wonderful, inspirational" and "Spiritually uplifting conference."

I began the afternoon with a brief outline overview of Modern Art & Spirituality. We then heard from Roseline de Thélin speaking on the theme of Art: language of the soul, with a key focus on art and wonder. De Thélin is an interdisciplinary visual artist as well as a creative coach and art therapist. The subject of Light has been central in her artistic and philosophical inquiry. Combining a diversity of digital and hands on media she produces pieces that play with illusion and perceptions. She is known for the unique work she developed with fiber optic, symbol of the endless possibilities carried by photons. Roseline facilitates Art Retreats that foster creative investigation, discovery, innovation and self-awareness.

Art historian Edward Lucie-Smith gave his Agnostic’s view of art and spirituality. Edward Lucie-Smith is an internationally known art critic and historian, who is also a published poet and a practicing photographer. He has published nearly two hundred books in all. He is generally regarded as the most prolific and the most widely published writer on contemporary art. A number of his art books are used as standard texts throughout the world. He has organised exhibitions in a number of galleries worldwide. He has also served on juries of the Cairo, Alexandria and Sharjah Biennials.

David Neita and Theresa Roberts discussed aspects of the Jamaican Spiritual which Theresa curated for St Stephen Walbrook in July. Theresa Roberts is an art collector specializing and promoting Jamaican Art and artists. She has held Jamaican Art exhibitions at various important venues in the UK including The House of Lords, Europe House, Cambridge University and this year St Stephen Walbrook. During the London Olympics Theresa held a combined Art and Fashion show at Jamaica House as part of the Independence Day celebrations. She showcases her collection of Jamaican art at her home of Hanover Grange in Montego Bay in Jamaica.

Jonathan Kearney showed examples of a wide range of digital art in discussing Art, Theology and The Digital. Kearney has extensive experience of exhibiting his work worldwide, with recent exhibitions having been seen in China, Brazil and London. For nine years, Kearney has pioneered the opportunity to study a Fine Art masters course online. This innovative approach to learning is backed by his research and experimentation, which shows how digital tools can enhance both learning and art practice. Jonathan is fascinated by the intersection of art, theology and the digital.

Mark Dean told his personal story of partial salvation through art before discussing The Esoteric In Art. Dean says, “As an artist I do not seek to make images of God but rather the representation of personhood; that is, the experience of being a person in a world where there is a God. This world is not easy, and there are experiences of trauma and isolation; but God (and thus the created world) is good, and so there is beauty and the hope of redemption.”

Jonathan Koestlé-Cate specifically probed the conference title for understanding in his presentation, utilising works by Bruce Nauman, Alice Neel, Jonathan Monk and Alejandro Tobon Rojas, in doing so. Koestlé-Cate says, “I have followed closely the church’s increasing willingness to work with contemporary artists and to deploy modern media within its spaces. I have since become a regular contributor to debates on the relationship of Christianity and the visual arts, taking a particular interest in the role of modern and contemporary art in ecclesiastical spaces, but also the wider presence of themes of religion, spirituality and the sacred within the art world more generally”.

Alexander de Cadenet shared an extract of his interview with Eckhart Tolle and spoke about the Awakened Artists Group before ending with a singing bowl meditation. De Cadenet says, "For me, art is way of exploring what gives life a deeper meaning and evolves in relation to my own life journey. Being an artist is about having a voice in the world, a pure and authentic voice in a challenging world. It is a way of sharing personal insights and encounters with the world, of exploring the mysteries of our existence and our place in the grand scheme. Art is the intersection between the formless dimension and the world of form, it embodies our connection to nature or the
intelligence that is responsible for our existences."

Exploring art and spirituality broadly is one of many ways in which St Stephen Walbrook, and the Church more widely, seek to support and strengthen the real relationship that exists between art and the spiritual.

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Glenn Hansard - Time Will Be The Healer.

Tuesday, 3 October 2017

Private View: Creations

Alexander de Cadenet is exhibiting at St Stephen Walbrook, until 3 November, a series of bronze and silver sculptures featuring ‘consumables’ that contain deeper spiritual messages. The works include a selection of his ‘Life-Burger’ hamburger sculptures and 'Creation' – a larger scale shiny bronze apple with three bites taken from it – two adult bites and baby bite in between.

At last night's Private View for the exhibition I made the following remarks:
I was attracted to the opportunity to show Alexander de Cadenet’s sculptures at St Stephen Walbrook because the Christian scriptures and tradition raise important questions regarding what and how much we consume. Alex’s sculptures draw on the spiritual dimension in life to explore similar questions. The Life-Burger sculptures, in particular, explore the relationship between the spiritual dimension of art and consumerism and, at their root, are an exploration of what gives life meaning. This exhibition therefore provides a space in which profound personal reflection and review can occur.

L.A. art critic Peter Frank has stated that, "We're at a moment in modern history where the excess has gotten staggeringly wretched. Oligarchs worldwide shock us and shame themselves with their conspicuous consumption -- a consumption that extends to the rest of us, as consumed no less than as consumers. Alexander de Cadenet encapsulates this emerging neo-feudal order in his gilded and multi-decked burgers. For the meta-rich, the world is their fast food joint, and their appetite insatiable. Over 3.6 billion sold!"

When I interviewed Alex for Artlyst, I asked him why he thought this situation was problematic. He said: “What’s problematic is the desire to consume and accumulate for the sake of it – often to run away from pain or discomfort – beauty and pleasure can at some point become quite warped and grotesque without limits, where even the original value gets lost or diluted within excess. I think it’s become more and more prevalent in the world today and it’s also very much part of the art world system too in the way that artworks are commoditized and their original beauty can get lost in the transformation into status symbols.”

Art historian Edward Lucie-Smith has perceptively noted a similar paradox: “The Life-Burgers,” he says, “offer a sharp critique of the society we live in and yet simultaneously they are luxury objects in their own right”.

Alex has said that he grew up exposed to these values and it has been valuable for him as a yardstick by which to compare things to and also given insights into the darker aspects of it. As a result, he is a playful moralist; conscious of his own ambivalent relationship to ‘morality’. Meaning that “any ‘moralizing’ is not done with self-righteousness but more as a way to explore and express the inherent paradoxes and richness of life.”

We can see this at play in his other key work for this show ‘Creation’ – a large scale shiny bronze apple with three bites taken from it – two adult bites and baby bite in between. This clearly references the second Creation story in the Book of Genesis, where Eve is tempted by the serpent to eat the apple from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil which Adam and Eve had been forbidden to eat. Adam also eats the apple (the second adult bite) but when challenged by God passes the buck to Eve who then puts the blame on the serpent.

The Genesis Creation stories are not to be read literally, despite what the New Atheists claim. A YouGov poll, commissioned by Newman University in Birmingham, found that "72% of atheists polled believe that someone who is religious would not accept evolutionary science." "In fact, only 19% of religious respondents in the poll rejected Darwinian thinking in favour of a literal reading of the Book of Genesis."

When the Genesis Creation stories are not read literally, they can be read as descriptions of key human tendencies such as our grasping after those things that we have been told we should not have, our willingness to cross boundaries to acquire them and our refusal to accept personal responsibility for our own actions when we are found out. You can see the link between these characteristics and the consumerist desires that are satirized in the ‘Life-Burgers’. The Biblical witness is that these desires characterise every generation. This may be why the baby bite appears in Alex’s ‘Creation’ as indication to these tendencies arising in future, as well as current, generations.

Yet, Alex has also stated that, “In Genesis, we were told by God not to take a bite from the apple, yet it was by taking a bite that we became ‘self-conscious’ and self-consciousness is what is necessary for making art.” This is also a part of the story as, by eating the apple, Adam and Eve gained knowledge of good and evil. This can be understood in terms of the development of consciousness in human beings which enables us to create, but which also means that our creativity can be used for good or for evil. The creation of luxury goods and of weapons of mass destruction involve considerable creativity on our part, as human beings, but may not have contributed greatly to our own well-being or that of society.

That brings us back, I think, to the possibility that this exhibition may provide a space in which profound personal reflection and review can occur as these sculptures are an exploration of what gives life meaning and purpose.

I pray that that may be so and end with an extract from a prayer of Francis Drake, as adapted by Desmond Tutu: Disturb us, O Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the water of life when, having fallen in love with time, we have ceased to dream of eternity and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of Heaven to grow dim. Amen.

Alex de Cadenet shared the following reflections:

“Creations” brings together some of the recent Life-Burger sculptures and also a larger scale bronze apple with three bites taken from it.

The Life Burgers communicate a wider message but drawn from and motivated by my own personal history and background. In form, they use a totem structure of a burger with high status fillings: classic cars, watches, airplanes, money and trophy women and with varying degrees of grotesquery.

The wider message explores materialism and consumerism as way of life and while elevating the subject on the top of the burger (and giving reverence to whatever crowns the burger), the validity and significance of those systems that elevate and give status is questioned and checked. A system that may need to be checked by those that ultimately place a higher value on ownership and personal significance to the detriment of their own and mankind’s spiritual evolution. In this sense and in keeping with the Christian teaching the words of Patrick Howe, artist and author of The Awakening Artist come to mind when he said, “the Life-Burgers…conjure a fattening materialism that works like a toxic cholesterol on the spiritual heart”.

On display are examples from the different stages of the Life Burgers from the past 2 years. The more recent Trump Burgers further explore the relationship between the traditional function of monumental portrait sculpture: to honour and give reverence to the subject and the idea of those with earthly dominion being seen as a spiritual protector. For some, world leaders, influential celebrities, powerful bosses or wealthy art collectors can become directors of our life destinies and akin to gods on the material plane. The impact that these people can have on one’s life cannot be underestimated. On one level it could be the difference between survival and non-survival. These are people that we may wish to influence in order to personally benefit….Yet there is often a darker dimension to this relationship, as Shana Nys Drambot wrote in a recent article for Whitehot Magazine, “The Life Burgers are an illustration of how the initial appeal of beauty might give way to a darker meaning over time”.

The most recently completed work ‘Jester Burger’ is a self portrait and presents the artist as a jester but on the top of the Burger in the same top position as Trump and Buddha. The hierarchy of worldly power is hereby questioned and to some extent our own relationship to this hierarchy.

This show has been presented within the sacred architecture and spiritually uplifting energy of this beautiful church, designed inside and out by one of Britain’s greatest architects Sir Christopher Wren. We also have here the central alter created by one of Britain’s best known sculptors – Henry Moore.

This show would not have been complete without a central statement. If the burgers talk about both the sacred function of art to revere and to say something of the paradoxes of life, the large scale bronze apple, presented this evening in the middle of the church on the sacred alter is the culmination of the Christian tradition – redemption through consuming the body and blood of Christ.

The heart of this holy place is where such redemption occurs. It is my privilege that today we see the apple bronze sculpture with three bites – two parents bites and a child’s bite. In a sense we may ask, how can we transcend original sin, the bite that we all take by being born? For some, the body of Christ is the vehicle to connect to that deeper dimension, for others it may be to meditate in nature or connect to an artwork that can act as a portal to the deeper dimension. For some creatives transcendence may be to create an outer manifestation of their deepest most sacred connection to Life – to be able to create new forms that offer the opportunity to others to expand consciousness and to share the joy of their existence.

My intention was for the apple sculpture in the centre to say something of the transformative power of art by using the Christian symbol of temptation and here presented in the very place where redemption from sin occurs. It is a prayer offered for the evolution of humanity and deliverance from ignorance, ingrained materialism and the seemingly ever increasing thirst for worldly power.

If anyone is interested in the relationship between art and the spiritual dimension, please come on October 25, here to St. Stephen Walbrook, we are having an afternoon of talks, conversations and meditations by international artists, critics, historian and collectors about their own perspectives on this theme.

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The Flying Lizards - Money.

Sunday, 9 July 2017

Jamaican Spiritual artists

Lawyer and Poet, David Neita provides an introduction to 'Jamaican Spiritual' at St Stephen Walbrook by giving his perspectives on works included in exhibition by Carl Abrahams, Greg Bailey, Lesli-Ann Belnavis, Alicia Lisa Brown, Laura Facey Cooper, Mabusha Dennis, Marlon James, Christopher Lawrence, Edna Manely, Sireita Mullings, Shaun Reid and Phillip Thomas.

Read Edward Lucie-Smith's review of the exhibition by clicking here.

The exhibition can be seen until 4.00pm on Friday 14 July.

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Mary Eliuds - Halleluyah.

Monday, 3 July 2017

Private View: Jamaican Spiritual

'Jamaican Spiritual' opened tonight at St Stephen Walbrook with a Private View in which curator Theresa Roberts opened the exhibition and poetic lawyer David Neita surveyed the exhibition.

Theresa Roberts says: 'The show is made up of painting,sculpture and photography highlighting the strong spiritual nature of Jamaica and it's people. Whilst predominantly Christian, Jamaica is home to a wide variety of religions which coexist peacefully. The variety of spiritual beliefs held on the island reflect the diverse nature of the people who live there and the motto of the country "Out of many we are one". Whilst spirituality is the overriding theme the exhibition inevitably also offers a compelling insight into the diverse nature and vibrancy of modern Jamaica.'

David Neita states that: 'Art is imagined, created, gifted, exchanged, bought, sold, admired, critiqued, taught, practised and discussed every day in Jamaica, and many of its themes focus on the settings, rituals and surrounding circumstances of the Jamaican faith experience. The artists in this exhibition were exposed to diverse spiritual sources, which were etched in their memories and hard-wired in their cultural reflexes as they grew up in the respective urban and rural contexts of their shared homeland. This powerful experience ultimately inspired the themes of their amazing work ... Enjoy the depictions of faith in these wonderful works of art as you discover your spirituality within.'

Edward Lucie-Smith writes that: 'the show ... features, in more obviously specific guises, the spirituality that pervades a great deal of the art produced in Jamaica, as well as its frequent resistance to being categorised as ‘ethnic’ – i.e. as in some way necessarily Africanising. The images are about seeing Jamaica as it actually is – not as some lost fragment of African culture, transferred intact to a different hemisphere.

Where the idea of Africa is stressed, it is to make a theological statement. Christopher Lawrence’s icon-like portrayal of an African Christ declares that Christ exists as a Saviour for all mankind.

Marlon James’ Trio offers sociological, not theological instruction. It shows three Jamaican women, wearing identical pink uniforms that suggest that they may perhaps be nurses, or even actual church emissaries, as they stroll past the gates that enclose a handsome Victorian church, which stands in a garden with clipped hedges, a bougainvillea vine in full bloom and a number of palm trees. If you choose to read it that way, the image suggests both the surviving Anglo-Colonial element in Jamaican society and also the fact the Christian faith is a non-exotic, everyday presence there. Both images tell one much about Jamaica as it is now, without pushing the point.'

St Stephen Walbrook is hosting this exhibition of Jamaican spiritual art arranged by Art Jamaica until 14 July 2017. The exhibition has been curated by Art Jamaica founder Theresa Roberts who has included mainly new work from young Jamaican artists but will also be featuring selected work from her own extensive collection.

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Sister Scully - This Is The Way.

Saturday, 24 June 2017

Art awakening humanity

Art awakening humanity is a conference organised by St Stephen Walbrook in partnership with Alexander de Cadenet and Watkins Mind Body Spirit Magazine that will explore the relationship between art and the spiritual dimension by taking words spoken by Eckhart Tolle in an interview with Mind Body Spirit Magazine as inspiration:

“Beauty arises when something more essential or deeper, something that underlies the world of sense perception shines through. It is what I call the ‘underlying Intelligence’ that is the organizing principle behind the world of form, a hidden harmony, as it were”.

”True art can play an important part in the awakening of humanity.”

The conference will be held in the context of an exhibition at St Stephen Walbrook of Alexander de Cadenet’s ‘Life-Burgers’, works which question the vanity of worldly existence and explores the “cultural hero system” proposed by philosopher Ernest Becker.

Presenters:

Jonathan Evens - Modern art & spirituality – a brief survey
David Cranswick - The role of integrity in traditional craft practices and the ancient cosmology of the pigments, metals and planets
Edward Lucie-Smith - An agnostic’s view of art & spirituality
Theresa Roberts – ‘Jamaican Spiritual’: spirituality in Jamaican art
Jonathan Kearney – Art, theology & the digital: creating new understandings
Mark Dean – Concerning the esoteric in art
Jonathan Koestlé-Cate - Art & Church: ecclesiastical encounters with contemporary art
Alexander de Cadenet - The Origin and the purpose of the Awakened Artists Group – a new group exploring the relationship between art and the spiritual dimension

To register for this stimulating conference, click here.

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Gungor - Beautiful Things.

Wednesday, 7 June 2017

Jamaican Art – Intuitive Outsiders But With That Old Time Religion

Edward Lucie-Smith writes on Artlyst about 'Jamaican Spiritual', the next exhibition at St Stephen Walbrook. In his article Lucie-Smith writes:

"the show ... features ... the spirituality that pervades a great deal of the art produced in Jamaica, as well as its frequent resistance to being categorised as ‘ethnic’ – i.e. as in some way necessarily Africanising. The images are about seeing Jamaica as it actually is – not as some lost fragment of African culture, transferred intact to a different hemisphere.

Where the idea of Africa is stressed, it is to make a theological statement. Christopher Lawrence’s icon-like portrayal of an African Christ declares that Christ exists as a Saviour for all mankind."

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Judith Gayle - Give Me Jesus.

Tuesday, 16 May 2017

'Transformation' Private View

Tonight's Private View for the 'Transformation' exhibition by Terrence Ffyffe at St Stephen Walbrook featured music from Michael Homer, 'Painting the Light' a film of the artist by Alex Vernon, and reflections on the work from Tessa and Terry Ffyffe, Edward Lucie-Smith and myself.

In my remarks I said the following:

Welcome to St Stephen Walbrook for this Private View and exhibition. St Stephen Walbrook hosts a regular programme of contemporary art exhibitions. We partner either with established art societies (such as the National Society of Painters, Sculptors & Printmakers or the Society of Catholic Artists) or significant art critics such Edward Lucie-Smith. In 2017 our programme has already included displays of art created from refugee camps, the Diocesan icon of hospitality, crucifixion drawings by Francis Bacon, a digital residency by Daniel Bourke, and an Easter Eve Vigil with the digital artwork of Mark Dean. Our programme will continue with an exhibition of spiritual art from Jamaica, an exhibition and conference with the sculptor Alexander de Cadenet and a group show by commission4mission.We have also led on the creation by the City of London of The Art of Faith, a City Walk exploring modern and contemporary art commissions in the city churches. I hope you will take away a copy of The Art of Faith leaflet and the leaflet publicising our exhibition programme.

This exhibition explores two transformations; a person artistic transformation and a universal spiritual transformation. Terry Ffyffe has described in his essay ‘Beyond Post Modernism’ how he had a transformative experience whilst painting. For much of his career he has been a well-regarded figurative painter in the classic tradition, drawing inspiration from the Old Masters such as Van Eyck, Bosch, Goya and Rembrandt, and increasingly tending towards religious imagery.

“Whilst painting the Resurrection event, using free, broad, colourful strokes to represent the transcendental light emanating from the Risen Lord.,” he says, “I had an "Epiphany" that took me back to the beginning and I realised once more that the Modern Movement was beget by the influence of the Holy Spirit, the Zeitgeist, and that the purpose of Art is to glorify God, to be transcendent, to inspire people, to bring joy and peace, and to connect the viewer with their deeper mind (self) and lead to contemplation of the great questions like "What is Reality?" Where do we come from? Where are we going? And that art should reveal Beauty, and (with the Modern ideal) a beauty that has not been seen before. In a moment I saw it all.”

As a result, he returned to the style of work that he had painted at the beginning of his career but empowered with all the study he had done and the considerable life experience he had gained. No longer emulating other artists or working in a derivative style, his new work is original and authentic. The inspiration for it comes from personal experience in meditation and the images we see coming via the Hubble Telescope, The Liga project and the electron microscope; the patterns of nature.

This exhibition brings together the last works that Terry was working on before this profound change with his new work depicting the beauty of the hidden world of nature and the inner world of the mind.” This leads us to the second transformation explored in this exhibition. Terry says, “The early paintings are about the Historical Jesus and the New Paintings are about the Holy Spirit.” The exhibition is deliberately organised to coincides with the Feast of Pentecost, celebrating the ‘Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles’, an event that transformed them from cowering in fear to boldly proclaiming the “Good News.”

This transformation occurs when the incarnate Christ ascends to his Father allowing his Spirit to then come and fill his followers. Terry’s visionary depictions of this transformation would seem to have synergy with Franciscan mysticism and the writing of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Richard Rohr. Rohr says that, “Franciscan mysticism is about an intuition of Jesus as both the Incarnate Human One and the Eternal Cosmic Christ at the same time”:

“The first and cosmic incarnation of the Eternal Christ, the perfect co-inherence of matter and Spirit (Ephesians 1:3-11), happened at the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago. Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the human incarnation of that same Mystery a mere 2,000 years ago, when we were perhaps ready for this revelation … Jesus presents himself as the “Anointed” or Christened One who was human and divine united in one human body—as our model and exemplar. .. Christ is our shortcut word for “The Body of God” or “God materialized.” This Christ is much bigger and older than either Jesus of Nazareth or the Christian religion, because the Christ is whenever the material and the divine co-exist—which is always and everywhere.

Ilia Delio writes, “The conventional visualization of the physical world was changed by Einstein’s special theory of relativity, which showed that matter itself was a form of energy. . . . For all practical purposes, energy is the ‘real world.’” There it is: science revealing that everything is both matter and energy/spirit co-inhering as one; this is a Christocentric world. This realization changes everything. Matter has become a holy thing and the material world is the place where we can comfortably worship God just by walking on matter, by loving it, by respecting it. The Christ is God’s active power inside of the physical world.

Delio continues: “Through his penetrating view of the universe Teilhard found Christ present in the entire cosmos, from the least particle of matter to the convergent human community. ‘The Incarnation,’ he declared, ‘is a making new . . . of all the universe’s forces and powers.’ Personal divine love is invested organically with all of creation, in the heart of matter, unifying the world.”

The coming of the Cosmic Christ is … the unification of all things.”

Teilhard calls this Christogenesis, believing that as the universe evolves toward its full realization at Omega, this is the point which coincides with the fully realized Christ. It is also at this point that God will be ‘all in all’ (1Cor. 15:28c).

A body of work that imaginatively depicts the Cosmic Christ and Christogenesis is genuinely original and holds great potential not only to depict transformation but to be transformative as these works are contemplated and prayed over in this place. So, as we welcome you to St Stephen Walbrook and to this Private View and exhibition, we also invite you not just see but also to experience transformation.

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Bruce Cockburn - Lord Of The Starfields.

Saturday, 13 May 2017

Terrence Ffyffe: Transformation

Artist Terrence Ffyffe presents a series of spectacular new ‘Cosmic’ paintings alongside a number of large dramatic religious works depicting the Passion of Christ, at St Stephen Walbrook (by Bank Station) EC4N 8BN, from 15th May - 9th June 2017. All are welcome to view these spectacular works at the Private View for the exhibition on 15th May from 6.30pm. Pianist Michael Homer will perform during the Private View, while Terrence Ffyffe, art critic Edward Lucie Smith and myself will all reflect briefly on the artworks.

As with his highly successful first show of ‘Cosmic’ paintings ‘Painting the Light’ in 2016, this exhibition entitled ‘Transformation’ brings the worlds of Quantum physics, Mathematics and Mystical Spirituality together in a new series of stunningly beautiful oil paintings. From his daily practise of meditation, which he describes as ‘a space journey to the source’, the lights, colours and shapes he sees mirror the images of Galaxies and Nebulas from the Hubble Telescope and the hidden world of atoms, cells and amoebas as revealed through the Electron Microscope. Ffyffe says “The amazing bio morphic patterns seen at all levels in nature demonstrate the oneness of all creation”. Terrence has found a way to create the patterns as blueprints and then with his skills as a figurative painter develop them into sumptuous paintings revealing a new form of beauty and a new vision of reality.

The exhibition coincides with the Feast of Pentecost, celebrating the ‘Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles’, an event that transformed them from cowering in fear to boldly proclaiming the “Good News”.

Ffyffe formerly a figurative painter in the classic tradition had a “transformation” experience himself and is now firmly established in his new direction of depicting the beauty of the hidden world of nature and the inner world of the mind”. The exhibition brings together the last works that Ffyffe was working on before this profound change. He says, ”The early paintings are about the Historical Jesus and the New Paintings are about the Holy Spirit”.

Terrance Ffyffe is a visionary artist and as the eminent art critic Edward Lucie-Smith wrote on seeing the New Works for the first time “Wow!”: "Every now and then even a hardened old lag in the art business - yes folks, I mean me - gets a nice surprise … Terry Ffyffe-asked me to come and look at a new series of paintings … and my reaction was 'Wow!' … These were whirling, dynamic abstract designs - a total break with anything major of his that I had encountered previously”.

Terrence Ffyffe says: “Art should inspire the viewer, ideally raise the consciousness and elevate the mind to think of higher things like the beauty and mystery of the natural world, to contemplate the deep questions as to purpose and meaning, like ‘What is the origin of this life? What is Reality? Questions that have no easy answer but require a personal journey of developing awareness.”

Terrence Ffyffe was born in Melbourne, Australia. He studied at Swineburne University under Jeffrey Makin and Roger Kemp. After living the bohemian life of a painter in Carlton, extensive travels in the Australian Outback and several solo shows he came to England to study the “Old Masters” of European Painting at first hand. Unknown in the UK he painted portraits to support himself while he developed his uniquely expressive style. He eventually came to the attention of the art critics Edward Lucie-Smith and the late Daniel Farson who introduced him to the world of Francis Bacon and the “London school”. He has won a number of National Competitions including the Discerning Eye. David Lee, the fierce art critic and editor of the Jackdaw has said “Terrence Ffyffe will in time prove to be a Great Painter”.

St Stephen Walbrook hosts a regular programme of contemporary art exhibitions. We partner either with established art societies (such as the National Society of Painters, Sculptors & Printmakers or the Society of Catholic Artists) or significant art historian such Edward Lucie-Smith. In 2016 our programme featured work by the Stuckist artist Joe Machine, artist-priest Alan Everett, Brazilian artist Kim Poor, a digital installation by Michael Takeo Magruder, and group shows by the National Society and commission4mission. For 2017 we have planned an exhibition of crucifixion drawings by Francis Bacon, solo shows by Hannah Thomas, Regan O'Callaghan and Alexander de Cadenet, a digital residency by Daniel Bourke, and a Holy Saturday Night Vigil with the digital artwork of Mark Dean.

St Stephen Walbrook, while being a neo-Classical masterpiece, has, by acquiring a modern altar by Henry Moore complemented by a circular re-ordering and further commissions from Patrick Heron, Hans Coper and Andrew Varah, become a space which stands at the heart of the story of connections between the worlds of modern art and Christianity. The church also contains significant woodwork and carving by William Newman which provides a spatial frame and backdrop to the regular programme of contemporary art exhibitions that the church hosts. All of which makes St Stephen Walbrook a significant and special venue in which to view art.

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Scott Stapp - New Day Coming.

Saturday, 8 April 2017

'Transformation' at the Bank

Artist Terrence Ffyffe presents a series of spectacular new ‘Cosmic’ paintings alongside a number of large dramatic religious works depicting the Passion of Christ, at St Stephen Walbrook, (by Bank Station) EC4N 8BN, from 15th May-9th June 2017.

As with his highly successful first show of ‘Cosmic’ paintings ‘Painting the Light’ in 2016, this exhibition entitled ‘Transformation’ brings the worlds of Quantum physics, Mathematics and Mystical Spirituality together in a new series of stunningly beautiful oil paintings. From his daily practise of meditation, which he describes as ‘a space journey to the source’, the lights, colours and shapes he sees mirror the images of Galaxies and Nebulas from the Hubble Telescope and the hidden world of atoms, cells and amoebas as revealed through the Electron Microscope. Ffyffe says “The amazing bio morphic patterns seen at all levels in nature demonstrate the oneness of all creation”. Terrence has found a way to create the patterns as blueprints and then with his skills as a figurative painter develop them into sumptuous paintings revealing a new form of beauty and a new vision of reality.

The exhibition coincides with the Feast of Pentecost, celebrating the ‘Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles’, an event that transformed them from cowering in fear to boldly proclaiming the “Good News”.

Ffyffe formerly a figurative painter in the classic tradition had a “transformation” experience himself and is now firmly established in his new direction of depicting the beauty of the hidden world of nature and the inner world of the mind”. The exhibition brings together the last works that Ffyffe was working on before this profound change. He says, ”The early paintings are about the Historical Jesus and the New Paintings are about the Holy Spirit”.

Terrance Ffyffe is a visionary artist and as the eminent art critic Edward Lucie-Smith wrote on seeing the New Works for the first time “Wow!”: "Every now and then even a hardened old lag in the art business - yes folks, I mean me - gets a nice surprise … Terry Ffyffe asked me to come and look at a new series of paintings … and my reaction was 'Wow!' … These were whirling, dynamic abstract designs - a total break with anything major of his that I had encountered previously”.

Terrence Ffyffe says: “Art should inspire the viewer, ideally raise the consciousness and elevate the mind to think of higher things like the beauty and mystery of the natural world, to contemplate the deep questions as to purpose and meaning, like ‘What is the origin of this life? What is Reality? Questions that have no easy answer but require a personal journey of developing awareness.”

Terrence Ffyffe was born in Melbourne, Australia. He studied at Swineburne University under Jeffrey Makin and Roger Kemp. After living the bohemian life of a painter in Carlton, extensive travels in the Australian Outback and several solo shows he came to England to study the “Old Masters” of European Painting at first hand. Unknown in the UK he painted portraits to support himself while he developed his uniquely expressive style. He eventually came to the attention of the art critics Edward Lucie-Smith and the late Daniel Farson, who introduced him to the “London School” and the world of Francis Bacon. He has won a number of National Competitions including the Discerning Eye. David Lee, the fierce art critic and editor of the Jackdaw has said “Terrence Ffyffe will in time prove to be a Great Painter”.

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Carolyn Arends - Seize The Day.