Artlyst: The Art of St Martin-in-the-Fields

My latest article for Artlyst features the 15-year programme of commissions and loans at St Martin-in-the-Fields which began as part of the renewal of the church undertaken by Eric Parry Architects.

In the article I note that the Bishop of Salisbury Nicholas Holtam, who as Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields began the programme of commissions at St Martin’s, has argued that there has been a renaissance in the relationship between Christianity and the arts; of which these commissions are part. Based on his experience, Holtam suggests that there is an enormous willingness on the part of artists to explore meaning and faith creatively and with imagination. He argues that whilst there might be safety for the Church in accepting only the work of Christian artists, the more important engagement is with good art that respects its Christian context. It makes us bigger people and deepens both our cultural life and the life of faith.

In an earlier article published by Artlyst, I explored the question of whether Caravaggio was a 'good' Christian suggesting that a better question is what makes such a man one of the most significant artists in both art history and Church history.

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Luxury - To You Who Gave Me Hope and Were My Light.

Sabbatical art pilgrimage: St Martin-in-the-Fields

The Revd. Dr. Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, spoke about ‘Art and the renewal of St Martins’ at the beginning of July as part of the International Conference organised by Art & Christianity Enquiry (ACE).

After initial remarks on the theme of art as a plurality of possibility showing what could be by using form, media and idea for creation, appreciation and interpretation, he took John Calvin’s threefold office of Christ as a frame for speaking about art, St Martins and Art at St Martins.

Art:

·        Prophet – Art holds up a mirror to society and asks, ‘Are you proud of what you see?’ Art can create a dream of society fulfilled and thereby the painful gap between the ideal and reality. Prophets often shock and some prophetic acts are shocking.

·        Priest – We can “heaven espie” through art (e.g. icons). Art enables us to see beyond the stars. It can, therefore, be a sacrament.  Through the arts the ordinary stuff of life speaks or sings of the divine. Artists are the high priests of creation.

·        King – Art shows what humanity can be when we reach our full potential.  Kingly art stretches us and is about glory, as with the roadsweeper Wells encountered who spoke of his love of opera as being “his glory.” Artists construct acts of worship. God is the great artist and each human life is an interpretation and improvisation on the creativity of God.

St Martins:

·        Prophetic – Advocacy on social issues.

·        Kingly – St Martins is a premier parish church which affirms national culture and identity.

·        Priestly – The priestly role is central to St Martins.

Art at St Martins:

·        Prophetic – Homage to Soweto by Chaim Stephenson is a memorial to those who suffered during the Apartheid regime in South Africa. Hector Pieterson was a 13-year-old killed in the Soweto uprising in 1976. In the sculpture he is being carried in the arms of a fellow student. The sculpture is a tribute, lament and prayer for victims of injustice and violence. Mike Chapman’s Millennium sculpture on the portico depicts the scandal of particularity found in the incarnation.

·        Priestly – Brian Catling’s Processional Cross has been cast in a strong yet lightweight aluminium and is gilded in white gold. In Jesus, God came face-to-face with humanity and vice versa. Jesus is, therefore, the crossroads. Wood went adrift when it was used as a cross. Here drift wood has been attached to the cross; two pieces of wood have been tied humbly together by a length of string – an allusion to St Martin tearing his cloak in two and giving half to a beggar.

·        Kingly – James Gibbs’ building signified a new era of church building. Shirazeh Houshiary’s East Window has no direct representation of conventional imagery. The oval is a prophetic image of interruption. It can also be seen as an egg about to burst (a Kingly image). The window governs all it surveys. This cross is a vortex of renewal, a whirlpool of holiness. 

St Martin’s has an Arts Advisory Panel for the Art Programme that began under the church’s Renewal Project. The panel is chaired by Sir Nicholas Goodison and also includes Vivien Lovell, Director of Modus Operandi. Other members of the advisory panel include Revd Dr Sam Wells, vicar of St Martin’s; Rod Beadles and Ali Lyon, Churchwardens; Eric Parry, architect of the Renewal Project; art historians Wendy Baron and MaryYule; and Alister Warman, curator.

As part of the renewal of St Martin-in-the-Fields by Eric Parry Architects, Modus Operandi was appointed to create an Art Startegy for the Grade I listed church.  As a result of a competitive interview process, overseen by the Art Selection Panel, five major new artworks were commissioned: Tomoaki Suzuki’s Christmas Crib, Shirazeh Houshiary’s East Window, a poem by Andrew Motion which was realised by letterer Tom Perkins and set into the balustrade of the Light Well, a new Altar by Shirazeh Houshiary and the new Processional Cross by Brian Catling.

The building won a RIBA London Award in 2009, an ACE/RIBA Award for Religious Architecture, A Civic trust Award and the Europa Nostra EU Prize for Cultural Heritage.  It also received a British Construction Industry Award and was highly commended in the Regeneration and Renewal Awards.

In addition to the commissions through the Art Programme, the visual arts also feature in the renewed building in the Crypt Gallery. The Gallery in the Crypt’s dramatic 18th Century architecture makes a stunning backdrop to display modern art and photography.

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Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble.

Church renewal

East Window at St Martin-in-the-Fields

(designed by Shirazeh Houshiary, in collaboration with architect Pip Horne)

The latest edition of RA, the Royal Academy of Arts magazine, features two Church renewal projects that have been overseen by its members.

The first is the well-known and highly successful renewal of St Martin-in-the-Fields by Eric Parry RA. It was in January 2006 that St Martin's embarked on the £36 million building project to restore and transform the church and surrounding buildings, and create a new sequence of beautiful, practical and inspirational spaces to serve the community, visitors and those in need. Due for completion at the end of 2008 the project is progressing well, with the restoration of the church almost complete and the new underground spaces open to the public.

Natural light now floods into the church bringing it closer to James Gibbs’s original, much-imitated Baroque design. The glorious decorative plasterwork of the ceiling has been restored; the pulpit relocated close to its original place, to improve the sightlines for congregation and audiences; and the chancel reordered to allow greater flexibility for worship and concerts. The finishing touch for the church itself is the installation of a new East Window, designed by artist Shirazeh Houshiary and architect Pip Horne, to replace the window installed following World War II bomb damage. Other significant new features are a glass-walled entrance pavilion and a remodelling of the crypt to include a new parish hall, rehearsal and office space, shop, and an enlarged cafe.

The second is the sculptor Anthony Caro who, over a period of several years, has been working on a major series of sculptures and architectural features to form part of the restoration of a chapel at Bourbourg in Northern France, about 12 miles east of Calais.

The Chapel of Light is situated in the choir of the Church of St Jean Baptiste. During World War II, a damaged English aircraft crash-landed on the roof of the church in order to avoid the houses in the town, and set it on fire. The church itself was restored, but the choir was separated by a wall from the body of the church and left in ruins until ten years ago. Caro was commissioned by the French Ministry for Culture and Communication to make a sculptural installation that would bring new life to the redundant choir.

Specifically for the project he has designed and built two huge internal oak towers each about 18 feet high. These towers are to be used for musical performances and allow vertical exploration of the church space. Caro has also made a concrete baptismal pool and a spectacular series of steel, wood and terracotta sculptures to fill a series of niches in the walls of the apex to the choir. Various other sculptures complete the east and west naves, linked through a doorway to a large exterior sculpture in corten steel. The sculptures follow the themes of The Creation (relating to the baptismal font) culminating in Adam and Eve.

Caro recognises that this monumental project is an exceptional opportunity for an artist. He stated, 'The light in the church is wonderful and it is such a privilege as an artist to be given a whole space to work with'. Not since Matisse's Chapel in Vence has another artist been given this opportunity."

The Church will be inaugurated on Saturday 11 October 2008 during a weekend of events to include the openings of the three exhibitions in Calais, Dunkerque and Gravelines.

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Gustav Holst - On This Day Earth Shall Ring (Personet Hodie).