Sabbatical art pilgrimage: Norwich Cathedral

Norwich Cathedral (John Hayward, David Holgate, John McLean).

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Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning.

Church Times: Mick Abbott's “Paradise and Other Places”

My latest review for Church Times is of Mick Abbott's “Paradise and Other Places” is in The Hostry at Norwich Cathedral:

'“Paradise and Other Places” explores nature and culture, identity and memory, making the sometime hidden traces of history, as with the retable-turned-table, evident once again within these works, as also within the cathedral’s walls. Our memories, our roots, and the nature and culture that have nourished us take each of us on a unique path. Yet, those who lived and worshipped when this cathedral was young knew love and sorrow, birth and death, just like those who worship here today. Abbott asks us whether paradise could quite simply be a state of being satisfied with what we have rather than wishing for things out of our reach; of being happy where we are and not longing for elsewhere. From this, he believes, springs the strength to rebel against and resist what is unfair and unjust, such as that which inspired, is depicted in, and caused the hiding of the Despenser Retable.'

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

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Paradise - Every Kinda People.

Windows on the world (414)

Norwich, 2017

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Arvo Pärt - De Profundis.

Keith New: British Modernist in Stained Glass

Over the past four years Diana Coulter and Robert Smith have been researching the stained glass of Keith New. Not only was New one of the three-man team who designed the nave windows at Coventry Cathedral, he also designed the windows installed in St Stephen Walbrook from c.1962-1978. The striking modernist glass was removed for safety reasons at the time when major underpinning works were carried out in the church. The windows had a chequered fate after their removal, and what is left of them can be seen in Norwich Cathedral.

Coulter and Smith have recently published their monograph Keith New: British Modernist in Stained Glass with Sansom, a Bristol-based publisher specialising art and design of the 20th century onwards. The monograph is split broadly into 40% biography and 60% an illustrated catalogue of New’s known commissions.

Keith New (1926–2012) was a significant pioneering British modernist stained glass artist in the 1950s and 1960s. This is the first monograph devoted to his work. It examines New’s career in the first part, while the second part comprises a comprehensive catalogue of his stained glass.

New’s career was launched with the 1952 Royal College of Art’s commission to design the nave windows for Basil Spence’s Coventry Cathedral. The three-man team, led by Lawrence Lee, included Geoffrey Clarke, another pioneer in the medium. Each artist designed three windows. The commission brought New to the attention of other prominent architects, including Robert Matthew and Denys Lasdun, as well as artists and critics like John Piper and John Betjeman.

Many commissions were for churches either in post-war rebuilds or in medieval buildings. Alongside these are examples in significant public buildings as well as in schools. Altogether there were 34 executed commissions, five of which have been wholly or partially lost. Through privileged access to the family archive as well as research in record offices, the authors have drawn together a Catalogue Raisonné of his known designs, both executed and unrealised.

New’s short career in stained glass maps onto the excitement generated by the 1951 Festival of Britain. When the post-war rebuilding programme finished in the mid 1960s, the demand for colourful and expensive stained glass also diminished.

Alternative directions led New to lead Foundation Studies at Kingston School of Art and to return to painting, an activity that had always sustained him.

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Marvin Gaye - God Is Love.

Windows on the world (379)

Norwich, 2014

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Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - I Need You.

Windows on the world (375)

Norwich, 2014

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Travelling Wilburys - Not Alone Any More.

Congruity and controversy: exploring issues for contemporary commissions

I will be giving a talk entitled Congruity and controversy: exploring issues for contemporary commissions at 2.00pm, Monday 1 May in the Weston Room at Norwich Cathedral as part of commission4mission's exhibition 'The Cross: designs & reflections'.

St Stephen Walbrook in the City of London has been described as one of the few in which the genius of Sir Christopher Wren shines in full splendour. As Priest-in-charge at St Stephen Walbrook, I am regularly called on to tell the story of how this English 17th-century masterpiece by Wren acquired a modern altar by Henry Moore complemented by a circular re-ordering and further commissions from Patrick Heron, Hans Coper and Andrew Varah. In this lecture I will show how this story brings into focus some of the key issues and questions regarding modern or contemporary commissions while furthering discussion of those same issues.

Other talks in the exhibition programme include:

Icons in the Making – 5pm, Saturday 29 April (Weston Room)

Icons in the Making by Dr Irina Bradley: The lecture will explore the history of Byzantine art as well as the icon painting process with its rich symbolism and spirituality. Dr Bradley is a scholar and an icon painter, who was awarded a PhD for her thesis Spiritual Striving in Icon Painting with the emphasis on images of St George and the Dragon and a series of icons and contemporary paintings she created. Upon her graduation Dr Bradley’s work was exhibited at the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts in London, where she undertook her studies and where she is a visiting tutor for the MA and general public programs. Dr Bradley’s work is worldwide including churches, private chapels and private collections.



Exposition on ‘The Bridge’, 12 & 19 May, 1.00pm (The Hostry)

Exposition of ‘The Bridge’: Anthony Hodgson will take the viewer on a journey exploring the themes of his painting ‘The Bridge’ by using spoken word, poetry and song.

Interpretations of the Cross in Contemporary Art and Culture, 2.30pm, 20 May (Weston Room)

​In today’s secular society, it is perhaps surprising that artists still find themselves drawn to the Christian cross as a means of expression. The cross has never been an event about which one can remain neutral; from the start it was an offence. Contemporary artists’ interpretations have taken many forms. Wendy McTernan will look at some examples and see how, in unexpected and sometimes shocking ways, Jesus’ story becomes part of theirs – and ours.​

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Lou Reed - Dime Store Mystery.

'The Cross': Artists' interpretations

At the Private View for 'The Cross: designs & reflections' I said that "artists and artworks are at their best when they take us out of our comfort zones and into new places which bring new understanding."

Some of the artists in the exhibition have given their own interpretations and perceptions of the works they have included in this exhibition. They include:

• Michael Garaway - "These images present a moment of silent darkness after the event, perhaps late on the eve of the Jewish sabbath. The bodies are gone from the scene, and the visual array of items bear witness to the common, almost workaday process of execution, as it might have been from a Roman soldier's point of view."
• Deborah Harrison - "This metal sculpture has been created to merge two Biblical images from the Old and New Testament: Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert even so must the son of man be lifted up John 3:14 We can make the link that Christ offered himself as an offering on the pole (cross) for the healing of all who suffered."

My thoughts on the two concrete poems I have included in the show can be found by clicking here.

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Mavis Staples - Have A Little Faith.

The Cross: designs & reflections

The Private View for the latest commission4mission exhibition was held in The Hostry at Norwich Cathedral on Wednesday.

Harvey Bradley, curator of the exhibition, outlined the basis for the show and I thanked Harvey for all his work before also thanking the Cathedral staff for their support and for the opportunity to show work in this marvellous space. I then said:

“‘The Cross: designs & reflections’ is an exhibition with two objectives. The first, because commission4mission is an organisation which exists to encourage churches to commission contemporary art, is the attempt to display a range of designs of the cross which have the potential to be commissioned by churches.

To assist in imagining potential commissions and the process involved, we have included within the show concept drawings and designs to indicate how initial ideas are developed and revised in forming fully realised creations. We have included a wide range of designs, concepts and media to suggest the way in which our artists can lead you into new ways of understanding and perceiving the Cross, should you choose to commission them.

That brings us to our other aim which is to challenge you to view and perceive the cross from a wide range of different perspectives. This is what artists bring to a church and to commissions. There is no point in commissioning art which reinforces our existing understandings of the cross, as these are already received and understood. Instead artists and artworks are at their best when they take us out of our comfort zones and into new places which bring new understanding. We believe that that is what commission4mission’s artists do and what we hope is apparent in this exhibition with its variety of media, styles, perspectives and understandings.”

‘The Cross: designs & reflections’ is an exhibition of works, talks and seminars by members of commission4mission which is being held in The Hostry at Norwich Cathedral from 20 April to 29 May 2017.

The exhibition is based on personal responses to the cross through designs, concept drawings, digital prints, wood & stone carvings, pottery & jewellery, textiles, sculpture, paintings and drawings.

The exhibition is free to attend. It will be open from 9.30am – 4.30pm Monday to Saturday and 10.00am – 3.00pm on Sundays.

The exhibition includes work by: Hayley Bowen, Harvey Bradley, Irina Bradley, Jonathan Evens, Terry Ffyffe, Rob Floyd, Dorothy Gager (USA), Maurizio Galia (Italy), Michael Garaway, John Gentry, Michelle Gillam-Hull, Clorinda Goodman, Judy Goring, Deborah Harrison, Tim Harrold, Anthony Hodgson, Jean Lamb, Mark Lewis, David Millidge, Victoria Norton, Colin Riches, Janet Roberts, Henry Shelton and Peter Webb.

In addition, a church congregation project has been completed by members of St Mark’s Church, Oulton Broad, Suffolk where people of all ages contributed individual crosses for a large banner to be displayed at this exhibition, as well as later in their church.

commission4mission is also organising a programme of art talks during the exhibition. These include interpretations of The Cross in contemporary art and culture, exploration of issues in contemporary commissioning, and an exposition on themes from ‘The Bridge’ using spoken word, poetry and song.

The programme includes:

• Icons in the Making – 5pm, Saturday 29 April (Weston Room) – Icons in the Making by Dr Irina Bradley: The lecture will explore the history of Byzantine art as well as the icon painting process with its rich symbolism and spirituality. Dr Bradley is a scholar and an icon painter, who was awarded a PhD for her thesis Spiritual Striving in Icon Painting with the emphasis on images of St George and the Dragon and a series of icons and contemporary paintings she created. Upon her graduation Dr Bradley’s work was exhibited at the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts in London, where she undertook her studies and where she is a visiting tutor for the MA and general public programs. Dr Bradley’s work is worldwide including churches, private chapels and private collections.
• Congruity and controversy: exploring issues for contemporary commissions – 2.00pm, Monday 1 May (Weston Room) – St Stephen Walbrook in the City of London has been described as one of the few in which the genius of Sir Christopher Wren shines in full splendour. As Priest-in-charge at St Stephen Walbrook, Revd Jonathan Evens is regularly called on to tell the story of how this English 17th-century masterpiece by Wren acquired a modern altar by Henry Moore complemented by a circular re-ordering and further commissions from Patrick Heron, Hans Coper and Andrew Varah. In this lecture Jonathan will show how this story brings into focus some of the key issues and questions regarding modern or contemporary commissions while furthering discussion of those same issues.
• Exposition on ‘The Bridge’, 12 & 19 May, 1.00pm (The Hostry) – Exposition of ‘The Bridge’: Anthony Hodgson will take the viewer on a journey exploring the themes of his painting ‘The Bridge’ by using spoken word, poetry and song.
• Interpretations of the Cross in Contemporary Art and Culture, 2.30pm, 20 May (Weston Room) – ​In today’s secular society, it is perhaps surprising that artists still find themselves drawn to the Christian cross as a means of expression. The cross has never been an event about which one can remain neutral; from the start it was an offence. Contemporary artists’ interpretations have taken many forms. Wendy McTernan will look at some examples and see how, in unexpected and sometimes shocking ways, Jesus’ story becomes part of theirs – and ours.​

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Good Charlotte - We Believe.