Art review: Stations of the Cross: Monuments to the Future

My latest review for Church Times is of Stations of the Cross: Monuments to the Future, an online exhibition at the Henry Luce III Center for the Arts & Religion:

'In a year when so many have been unable to travel, this exhibition takes viewers on a virtual journey around the world from Russia to the United States. In a year when so many have died, each Station of this exhibition responds to a monument or memorial bearing witness to this traumatic season through the work of artists who find in Christ’s Passion a frame through which to fashion a present response.

Stations of the Cross is a public art project that for six years has sought to use the story of the Passion to prompt reflection in response to challenges of social justice. In previous years, a team of curators in each city that hosted the project designed a bespoke route with 14 stops, creating a contemporary pilgrimage marked by works of art, old and new. Drawing on the traditional Christian practice of walking and praying the 14 Stations, the journey undertaken to see artworks was a key element of an experience designed to engage people of all faiths and none in experiencing, as one of the exhibition’s co-curators Dr Aaron Rosen writes, “the incidental insights and revelations that come from navigating urban spaces in search of sacred experiences”.

None of that was possible in 2021, necessitating a significant reimagining of the project on the part of Rosen and the Revd Dr Catriona Laing to sustain the concept in its sixth year.'

Hear the curators and some of the artists speak about the project and exhibition today in a HeartEdge workshop at 4.00 pm. In this workshop Revd Dr Catriona Laing, Dr Aaron Rosen and guest artists featured in the exhibition will reflect on the relevance of the Stations of the Cross, the way in which they speak into issues of injustice and the virtues of the physical experience of the first four years versus this year’s online experience. Register for a Zoom invite at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stations-of-the-cross-tickets-147886712137.

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here.

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Jungle - Pray.

Jujol and Subirachs

Josep Maria Jujol developed his unusual architectural style through many years of close, creative collaboration with Antoni Gaudí. He helped create the doors for Casa Batlló as well as the ceramic facade, the ceilings and columns of Casa Milà, as well as the wrought iron banisters, and was responsible for the colourful ceramics decorating the serpentine seats and ceilings of  Park Güell.  Jujol was famous for utilizing waste materials such as broken tiles, plates, bottles, cups, glasses, and jugs when creating mosaics.

Jujol’s work 'is characterized by a high degree of sensibility to the forms of nature, an emphatically anti-geometric aesthetic, attention to workmanship and detail, as well as the imaginative use of old and previously utilized material. It is an eloquent expression of his affection for the Catalonian landscape, his modesty, and deep religious faith.'

Jujol's work was not restricted to collaborations with
Gaudí and an interesting piece Richard Eilers in the Guardian describes visits to some sites associated with Jujol. The monument at the Plaça d'Espanya (see photograph above) is also by Jujol, although not one of his lighter and better works.

 Josep Maria Subirachs is the Catalan sculptor who, in 1986, was commissioned to create the groups of sculptures on the Passion Façade of the Sagrada Família. 'Subirachs dedicated almost twenty years (1987 to 2005) to this group of works, which can be considered the synthesis and culmination of his career as a sculptor, comprising more than one hundred figures sculpted in stone and four bronze doors. To represent the last two days in the life of Jesus Christ, he revisited his figurative expressionism stage in search of the dramatic effect the theme required.'

'The expressionist aspect of Subirachs' works is more formal than conceptual and can be found, above all, in the typically distorted angular bodies and in the treatment of textures, when he incorporates grattage, refraining from leaving surfaces smooth, making them rough, jagged, coarse, in order to accentuate the expressive capacity of the material.' His work on public sculptures has been considered a milestone in the artistic renovation of Spain in the 20th century.

'A multi-faceted artist, Subirachs has not only expressed himself through tridimensional creation, but also by means of other techniques such as painting, drawing, graphic art (etching, drypoint, serigraphy and lithography), tapestry, book illustration, medal minting and designing jewellery and other utilities.' Much work by Subirachs can be found in Barcelona, including the monument to the president of the Catalan Government, Francesc Macià, at the Plaça de Catalunya (see photograph above).

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Adrian Snell - Gethsemene.