Windows on the world (531)

 

Southend, 2025

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Dr Feelgood - Rolling And Tumbling.

'In Other Worlds: Acts of Translation', 'The Scene by the Sea', and 'Nubia'

An amazing array of art can be seen in Southend this summer, including works by Michael Armitage, Frank Auerbach, Louise Bourgeois, Billy Bragg, George Condo, Ian Dury,  Wilko Johnson, Phill Jupitus,  Anselm Kiefer, Haroon Mirza, Humphrey Ocean RA, Alan Sorrell, Vivian Stanshall​​​​​​​, Antoni Tàpies, Danh Vo, and Ai Weiwei.

Click on the artist names to read my pieces on Michael Armitage, George Condo, Anselm Kiefer, Danh Vo, and Ai Weiwei. My poem inspired by Anselm Kiefer's 'Palm Sunday' installation can be read here. My review of an earlier exhibition drawn from the Roberts Institute of Art can be read here.

In Other Worlds: Acts of Translation, Wed 25 Jun to Sat 13 Sep 2025 - Big Screen Southend
Focal Point Gallery

This summer, Focal Point Gallery presents a major exhibition developed in collaboration with the Roberts Institute of Art. This exhibition brings together over 25 works, some of which have never been shown in a public gallery before, from the David and Indrė Roberts Collection, one of the UK’s foremost private collections. The exhibition engages with the theme of translation – through storytelling and myth, history and memory, language and materiality – and features a newly commissioned installation and performance by Haroon Mirza.

With works by Horst Ademeit, Michael Armitage, Frank Auerbach, Charles Avery, Jonathan Baldock, Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press, Neïl Beloufa, David Birkin, Louise Bourgeois, Mark Bradford, Ulla von Brandenburg, Miriam Cahn, George Condo, Martyn Cross, Romany Eveleigh, Simon Fujiwara, Ellen Gallagher, Jim Goldberg, Pierre Huyghe, Anselm Kiefer, Haroon Mirza, Francesca Mollett, Nika Neelova, Antoni Tàpies, Danh Vo, Ai Weiwei.

In Other Worlds: Acts of Translation considers translation as an act of movement and transformation. At a time when anything can seem open to interpretation, yet nothing appears to hold the exhibition asks: how do we engage with multiple perspectives without collapsing into relativism? How can we communicate across distances while still recognising differences? How do we engage with others – people, histories, ideas – without assuming full knowledge or easy equivalence?

The works in this exhibition show that to translate is not only to carry something across (the root meaning of the word), but also to expose its limits, its gaps and its generative possibilities. Translation is always partial, always unfinished, and in never being complete, it offers an ongoing commitment to the world and to others.

Haroon Mirza’s sound commission explores translation through sound, rhythm, performance and communal participation. His work translates binary code into the infinite variety of the human voice, revealing how even the most structured systems remain open to interpretation. By weaving together voices from the local community, Mirza’s installation makes translation a live and participatory process, one that engages difference rather than erasing it.

Translation shapes how we engage with the past, how we navigate inherited narratives and how we attempt to understand one another. Anselm Kiefer, Michael Armitage, George Condo and Ellen Gallagher, amongst others, explore how myths and stories shift with each retelling. Their works invite us to reconsider how stories, from oral traditions to the Bible, are continually reshaped, revealing that meaning is never fixed but always in flux. Here, translation is not about preserving a singular meaning but about keeping stories alive, expanding their possibilities rather than resolving them.

Other artists, including Nika Neelova, Jonathan Baldock and Louise Bourgeois, consider translation as a way of engaging with history, memory and loss. Their work examines how histories are fragmented, buried and resurfaced, where what is lost in one form might reappear in another. These works remind us that history is not simply a fixed narrative but an ongoing act of responsible interpretation, shaped by what is remembered and what remains untranslated.

Beyond stories and history, the exhibition questions the limits of language itself, looking at how experiences can never be fully captured. Pierre Huyghe, Antoni Tàpies, Simon Fujiwara and others explore moments where gaps in understanding become spaces for invention. Artists including Romany Eveleigh and David Birkin extend this beyond words, revealing how meaning moves through gesture, rhythm and touch – forms of communication that exist outside dominant linguistic structures. Their works suggest that what remains untranslated is not necessarily lost but becomes another way of carrying experience across cultures, generations and histories.

In a time of misinformation, contested histories and unstable narratives, this exhibition reminds us that translation is never neutral. It is an active, interpretive process that shapes how we relate to the past, to others and to the world around us. Rather than dissolving meaning into infinite perspectives, the artists in this exhibition show that translation, whether of a text, an image, a sound or a memory, is always an act of making, of bringing something into a different form where new possibilities emerge. Translation is not a way of making everything the same, but of making differences communicable – however imperfectly, however incompletely. As the artists in this exhibition show, to translate is to commit to the world and to one another, even and especially in the face of uncertainty.


The Thames Group of Artists Present 'The Scene by the Sea'
Beecroft Art Gallery
24/5/25 to 26/10/25

To mark the tenth anniversary of the Thames Group, the Beecroft Gallery is hosting The Scene by the Sea—an exhibition that celebrates Southend’s rich and rebellious pop cultural heritage. Inspired by the fold-out map conceived by Will Birch, Kosmo Vinyl and Jules Balme, this show charts the clubs, record shops, fashion boutiques and music venues that once made the town a creative epicentre by the estuary. 

The Thames Group artists respond with new work that is both playful and poignant, capturing the spirit of a scene that continues to echo along the seafront and through the generations. 31 artists and 9 guest artists including Billy Bragg, Ian Dury, Wilko Johnson, Phill Jupitus, Humphrey Ocean RA and Vivian Stanshall​​​​​​​ have created a body of mixed media work inspired and informed by some of Southend-on-Sea's iconic pop culture locations.

Alan Sorrell 'Nubia'
Beecroft Art Gallery
From 1st February 2025

This exhibition features Sorrell's 1962 commission for The Illustrated London News, documenting archaeological treasures from Nubia, a region in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. These works captured iconic sites like Abu Simbel at a time when many were at risk of being submerged during the construction of the Aswan High Dam. This is the first major display of his rare Nubian works in over 25 years.

Sorrell's artistic journey began locally at the Southend Municipal School of Art, where he developed the skills that earned him a scholarship to the Royal College of Art. During World War II, he served as an official war artist, producing works that recorded the human and physical landscapes of the conflict. After the war, Sorrell became renowned for his historical reconstructions, illustrating sites such as Stonehenge and Hadrian's Wall in exquisite detail. His ability to bring history to life has left a lasting impact on both art and archaeology.

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Billy Bragg - A13.

Southend-on-Sea: Steve Whittle and John Paul Barrett

There is a marvellous opportunity currently in Southend to see traditional religious imagery in a new light.

Steve Whittle ‘Retrospective : 1973-2023’
Beecroft Art Gallery
Saturday, 13 January - Sunday, 31 March 2024

The primary subject matter in Steve Whittle's work is colour, which has been the major theme. The work is often produced in series and is unified by the similar images and combinations of colours that are used. Each picture can therefore be viewed as a component of a group or seen as an individual piece.

The medium Whittle uses is collage and over many years he has developed the technique which can be seen in many of the pictures in this retrospective. Firstly the paper, which is acid free, is prepared with several coats of acrylic paint in the appropriate colour and the torn paper collage is applied to this surface with acrylic glue in as many layers as necessary to get the correct colour combinations. When the picture is complete it is then coated with UVS varnish.

The retrospective includes a series of Stations of the Cross, plus other crucifixion and resurrection images. Additionally, there are images of churches including St Peter's Chapel at Bradwell. M.L. Banting writes:

"Asking what had drawn him to this ancient Chapel, Whittle says it’s almost impossible to put into words, he’d felt a primal and immediate connection on his first visit and had to return again and again. That powerful pull has resulted in a number of works, including charcoals, pastels, paintings and collages, all of which portray the extraordinary sense, or spirit, of place – remote, lonely; glorious and powerful – the austere silhouette of the Chapel monumental against the sea and sky."

Trials and Tribulations: Modern Impressions of Iconography

The People's Gallery

Friday 2 - Thursday 29 February 2024

This is a new exhibition by local artist John Paul Barrett at the Forum. This collection is inspired by Eastern European iconography. Visitors will experience traditional religious imagery in a new light, and (re)connect with the spiritual aspect and values symbolised by pivotal Biblical events.

You can meet the artist at the following times:

• Friday 2 February, 5-6.30pm
• Saturday 3 February, 3-4.30pm
• Saturday 10 February, 11am-2pm
• Saturday 17 February, 3-5pm
• Saturday 24 February, 11am-2pm

Also worth checking out is: 

Richard Baxter, On the Wall, 2023 

on the Focal Point Gallery website, which features St Peter-on-the-Wall:

Richard Baxter is interested in how traces from previous lives of places describe time passing. When visiting a site, he collects photographic evidence and takes squeezes: sheets of porcelain pressed onto surfaces, peeled away to reveal exact negatives of specific details. He is currently exploring the site of St Peter-on-the-Wall at Bradwell in Essex. Built by Cedd in 654 it is England’s oldest church, but it uses far older materials from the Roman fort Othona that stood there for over 400 years. The stones came from Kent and the red bricks from the clay found under the fields. Many centuries have left their marks, making a complex story of building and rebuilding. It is a place of utmost simplicity requiring a simple response. The prints are enhanced with a cobalt wash, a blue associated with porcelain. This is a different kind of printmaking, and goes hand in hand with making cyanotypes, which use similar blue dye tones and give a timeless feel. This film is a collage of inputs and outcomes so far. Next steps will see Baxter combine the photographic images onto squeezes for the first time. The images will sit on top of their own texture.

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Low - Silver Rider.

Windows on the world (421)

 

Southend-on-Sea, 2023

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Moby - Everloving.

Southend on Sea: Beecroft Art Gallery, Focal Point Gallery and Prittlewell Priory

Beecroft Art Gallery in Southend has a permanent collection of over 2000 works, ranging from 17th-century Dutch paintings to contemporary works. The collection includes examples by artists such as Molenaer, Ruisdael and Berchem plus 19th-century artists including Rossetti, Constable and Edward Lear. There are works by Carel Weight, the Great Bardfield Group, and a fine bronze by Jacob Epstein. The local artist Alan Sorrell is represented by his Drawings of Nubia series depicting a visit to Egypt prior to the building of the Aswan Dam. The Thorpe Smith Collection of local landscape views contains paintings, drawings and prints from as early as 1803.

Current exhibitions include:

Old Leigh Studios - Time & Tide which celebrates the work of 5 artists working together in Leigh-on-Sea. The exhibtion shows the work of Richard Baxter, Julie O'Sullivan, Sheila Appleton, Ian Smith and Joe Spurgeon, all based at Old Leigh Studios. The exhibition explores the personal and emotional connections they all have to the life, colours and textures of the Thames Estuary, and to the tidal nature of its shoreline. See more of Appleton and Smith's work in their online exhibition, A View of Retrospection. I was glad to catch up briefly with Richard Baxter, who was part of commission4mission for a time. He makes finely thrown porcelain in distinctively bright, bold and beautiful colours and favours forms with simple clean profiles reminiscent of mid-century-modern Scandinavian ceramics. On each piece he varies the curves and applies the bands of bronze pigment to fit each form, so every pot is unique.

Jennie Sharman-Cox and Simon Monk - Double Take: Jennie Sharman-Cox and Simon Monk are two artists living and working in the Southend area. Their outlook and activities are quite distinct, the former working predominantly in three dimensions while the latter produces paintings and drawings. Despite these essential differences there are notable areas of common ground, the meticulously crafted nature of their work being the most clear. Both artists invent fictional worlds for the viewer to enter and inhabit, Jennie through the use of immersive box constructions and Simon through trompe l’oeil illusion. Jennie and Simon are both Southend natives and perhaps something of the culture of the British seaside resort in which they grew up, with its novelties and amusements, remains present in their work. For this exhibition both artists are presenting a body of new and recent work as well as selections from their studio archives. To mark the occasion of the show Jennie and Simon have each produced a new piece responding to the the Beecroft Gallery building and its history as a library.

Colour 2: This exhibition explores the use of colour within painting, sculpture and sound. The power of colour has fascinated psychologists, philosophers, chemists and artists for hundreds of years, with certain colours long being associated with class, status and authority within many cultures. The emotion colour can evoke within us has encouraged many artists to consider the way they are using colour and why. Utilising the Beecroft Art Gallery collection in conjunction with loans from Essex University and Essex Collection of Art from Latin America ESCALA, this exhibition aims to explore the way colour has been used, the narrative of particular colours, and the power colour holds. The exhibition includes some great works by significant artists including Roderick Barrett, Allin Braund, Canaletto, William Crosbie, David Hockney, Elsa James, Karólína Lárusdóttir, John Nash, Jacob van Ruisdael and Carel Weight. I was particularly interested to see a painting by George Morl, who will be showing his own art collection at St Andrew's Wickford in May, as part of the One Beautiful World Arts Festival.   

Located on the lower floor of the Beecroft Art Gallery is The Jazz Centre UK which celebrates jazz music’s heritage, and actively supports and promotes contemporary performance and education. The charity (No: 1167421) was registered in 2016 and founded by musician, broadcaster and writer Digby Fairweather. The organisation’s mission stated on the Charity Commission website is “To preserve promote and celebrate the art of jazz music in all its forms”. The Jazz Centre includes a walk-through history of jazz feature, a heritage museum, a performance space, research facilities, a media room, a cinema/lecture theatre and a retail outlet for jazz books and records.

The Rise and The Fall: Liz Magor is at Focal Point Gallery Organised in collaboration with the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, the exhibition will subsequently tour to The Douglas Hyde Gallery of Contemporary Art, Dublin (14 July-24 September 2023) and Fondazione Giuliani, Rome (26 October 2023 – January 2024).

‘The Rise and The Fall,’ by Liz Magor presents a focused selection of works from the last five years that explore our relationship with the material world. Working with ubiquitous, manufactured objects that often go unnoticed, she transforms them using inventive sculptural techniques that locate them on a spectrum between still life and the uncanny. Things such as blankets, containers, clothing and toys are found in relationships that generate a sense of care and meaning beyond their original use or function. The exhibition offers a focused selection of work that consider Magor’s understanding of the presence of ‘agency’ within inanimate, material objects and her enquiry as to the source of their intrigue and emotional resonance. The way in which Magor’s work draws attention to discarded and apparently mundane objects, seems particularly relevant to current discussions about the economy of things and the role of material in our social, political and psychological lives.

Focal Point Gallery is South Essex’s only public contemporary art gallery, open to all. Offering an exciting and ambitious programme of largely free workshops, talks, outdoor film screenings and offsite projects, they also present four major exhibitions a year featuring both international and local artists. Their aim is to inspire curiosity by producing and presenting thought-provoking art made today that explores our locality, sense of self and the importance of communities through investigating current concerns that resonate internationally.

Prittlewell Priory was founded by the Cluniac Order in the early 12th century as a cell to the Priory of St Pancras at Lewes, Sussex. It was one of the lesser monasteries housing not more than 18 monks. In 1536 much of the building was destroyed and what remained was much altered during the 18th Century. Alterations were made again in the early 20th Century, when the Refectory was restored and partly rebuilt. A number of original features do survive, including a 12th Century doorway with chevron and dog tooth ornamentation. After the Dissolution the Priory was a private residence and it was granted to Lord Chancellor Audley, who conveyed it to Robert, son of Lord Rich. It afterwards passed with the manor to various families. The last family to live there, the 19th Century Scrattons, are explored in an exhibition inside the house. In 1917 the building was purchased by Robert Jones, and in May 1922 it opened as Southend's first museum.

In 2011 works began on refurbishing the existing buildings and the construction of a new Visitor Centre. The £2 million works were in part funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Cory Environmental Trust in Southend and were undertaken by The Facility Architects and Ibex Interiors. Works were completed in the summer of 2012 and the Priory re-opened in the June of that year. The new Visitor Centre, adjacent to the Priory, opened in February 2013.

St Catherine's Wickford has a possible connection to Prittlewell Priory as the chancel ceiling is reputed to have come from the Priory Refectory.

‘Totems of Hope’ by Heidi Wigmore was funded by an Arts Council England ‘Developing your Creative Practice’ award in 2021 for Prittlewell Priory. 

Wigmore writes:

"The work functions as an installation of seven 1m x 1.5m textile banners, they symbolise a resurrection of the creative spirit; they are ‘guardians’, a force for hope and unity in an increasingly fractured world.

Sacred banners have long been used as a symbolic tool to communicate the spiritual realm and to celebrate revival and regeneration. I visualise them imparting a grandiose impact in heritage spaces.

The imagery evolved from an analogue collage series evoking the ‘Sacred Feminine’; images of transformation and empowerment reference both modern and classical mythologies, synthesizing ancient Western and Eastern cultural traditions as hybrid ‘totems’. Sources include medieval religious paintings and icons, Tudor/Baroque era royal portraiture, and myriad sculptural and symbolic/natural forms.

The banners incorporate sumptuous velvet and damask fabrics, hand-constructed with all their human imperfections alongside the precision of cutting-edge digital technologies; a fusion of tradition and the contemporary. Embroidered motifs, reminiscent of the Ecclesiastical, are partly deconstructed by my interventions with the machinery."

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Paul Weller - Still Glides The Stream.

Artlyst - Re-imagining Essex July 2022 Diary

My July diary for Artlyst has mentions for Michael Landy at Firstsite, Elsa James at Focal Point Gallery, George Morl at Southend High Street, and Grayson Perry at Salisbury Cathedral as I focus on the ways in which the image of Essex is currently being questioned, challenged and re-framed by artists and exhibitions in and from Essex:

‘Othered in a region that has been historically Othered’ is a major new film that comes in three chapters moving from initial experiences of being othered, through the Grenadian island ritual of Jab Jab which provides a transformative moment, into a final chapter that imagines a new future for Essex by taking the othering and turning it ‘into a zone of possibility and new dreaming.’ Unlike her earlier films in which the actual stories of othered Essex residents were re-told, these films feature James herself channelling through her performance – she equates this, in an interview with Ekow Eshun, to Christians receiving the Holy Spirit – the experience of being othered and of re-imagining.

Her performances in these films are based both on historical research into the persecution of women as witches in Essex in the mid-17th century by the infamous Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins, and focus groups held in Essex with asylum-seekers and refugees, black students, and the LGBTQIA+ community. From the focus groups have come phrases and concepts which have been incorporated into the lyrics and poetry that feature in the films. In this mix of words, sounds and images, James looks within ‘to find the source / of that redemptive’ and asks ‘What would Essex look like if the norm got turned on its head and the ‘Othered’ became the norm?’

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -

• Sidney Nolan’s Africa: Interview With Andrew Turley
• Ilona Bossanyi: Tate’s Ervin Bossanyi Stained Glass Window Mothballed After 2011 Redevelopment
• Louis Carreon: Sampling Art History
• Modus Operandi - What Makes Successful Public Art: Vivien Lovell Interviewed
• Genesis Tramaine: A Queer Devotional Painter
• Lakwena Maciver: Review-Interview Hastings Contemporary
• Nicola Ravenscroft - Sculpture With A Peaceful Stillness
• Artist Hannah Rose Thomas – Tears of Gold – Interview
• Marcus Lyon: Human Atlas Explorations
• Elizabeth Kwant Interview
• Helaine Blumenfeld: Undulating Structures
• National Gallery Explores ‘Sin’ In New Exhibition – Interview Dr Joost Joustra Curator
• Betty Spackman: Posthumanism Debates
• Christopher Clack: Connecting The Material And Immaterial
• Peter Howson Artlyst Interview
• Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker On The Legacy Of ArtWay
• Alastair Gordon A Testament To His Faith
• Katrina Moss Chaiya Art Awards Interview: Where is God in our 21st century world?
• Apocalypse Now: Michael Takeo Magruder Interviewed
• Jonathan Anderson: Religious Inspirations Behind Modernism
• Caravan – An Interview With Rev Paul Gordon Chandler On Arts Peacebuilding
• Art Awakening Humanity Alexander de Cadenet Interviewed
• Michael Pendry New Installation Lights Up St Martin In The Fields
• Mark Dean Projects Stations of the Cross Videos On Henry Moore Altar

Articles -

• Art Illuminating spirituality June 2022 Diary
• Hew Locke And The Christian Roots Of Carnival – Tate Britain
• Les Lalanne, Schütte And Gursky London Spring Exhibition Highlights
• Sensuous Sickert and Philpot Two Major UK Solo Exhibitions
• Venice To London May 2022 Diary
• Jacob Epstein, Louis Carreon, Titus Kaphar, Betty Spackman – April 2022 Diary
• Raphael The Human And Divine – National Gallery
• Damien Hirst The Visceral Reality Of Death
• Ali Cherri: Artist in Residence National Gallery
• Audrey Flack Carlo Crivelli And Robert Indiana – March Diary
• Surrealism Outside The Usual Story – Tate Modern
• Marcus Lyon Creates Fields of Vision At St Martin-in-the-Fields London
• My Art Diary And Other Thoughts February 2022
• Van Gogh Self Portraits The Infinite And The Ordinary
• Marvellous Icons: The London Jesuit Centre
• And On An Art Note: End Of Year Diary 2021
• Albrecht Dürer Travels Of A Renaissance Artist – National Gallery London
• Diasporan Identities: Life Between Islands Caribbean British Art – Tate Britain
• Isamu Noguchi: Socially Engaged Art – Barbican Centre
• Pablo Bronstein: A This-World Vision Of Hell
• Bosco Sodi: In The Beginning Of Wisdom
• George Condo Lockdown Works Hauser & Wirth
• Theaster Gates Clay As A Profound Metaphor
• Mark Rothko: Mesmerising And Intimate Works On Paper
• International Autumn Art Exhibition Reviews
• Roger Cecil: A Once In A Generation Welsh Painter
• Tino Sehgal: Location, Nature And Pandemic – Blenheim Palace
• Michael Armitage And The Power Of Art – Royal Academy
• Marie Raymond And Post-War Avant Garde Painting In Paris
• Rachel Kneebone: A Complex Tableau Of Organic And Geometric Forms
• Rodin: Suffering And Conflict – Tate Modern
• Barbara Hepworth: Symbols Of Art & Life – Hepworth Wakefield
• 20th Century Women Artists Challenging Conventions In Britain
• Chaiya Art Awards 2021 Gallery OXO
• Marc Chagall’s Exquisite Stained Glass Window Commissions
• George Gittoes Equal parts artist and warrior
• Keith Haring: Personal Spiritual Imagery
• Sean Scully: Philosophical Poetic Pastoral The 12 / Dark Windows
• Arthur Jafa: The Art Of Cutting And Pasting
• Blackpentecostal Breath: Spirit-Led Movement Jumps From Music To Visual Art
• Made in USA Ed Ruscha An American Perspective
• Robert Smithson: The Archetypal Nature Of Things
• If Jesus Is A Man Of Colour Why Did We Make Him Aryan?
• Cosmic Patches And Quilts Five Exhibitions
• Everyday Heroes: Southbank Exhibition Celebrates Low-paid Key Workers
• Entwining Spiritualism And Art – Three Shows
• Of Church And The Visual Arts
• Has The Word Master Reached Its Sell-By Date?
• The People Behind Community Is Kindness Billboard Campaign
• André Daughtry: Art, Rebellion And Racial Justice
• Salisbury Cathedral 800 Years Of Art And Spirit
• Home Alone Together Twenty Five Artists
• Botanical Mind Online: Art, Mysticism and the Cosmic Tree
• Salvador Dalí The Enigma of Faith
• Art And Faith A Time For Seeing
• Andy Warhol: Catholicism His Work, Faith And Legacy
• Kiki Smith: Embodied Art
• Art and Christianity Awards A Positive New Millennium Legacy
• Arnulf Rainer: 90th Birthday Exhibition Celebrated At Albertina Museum
• A Belonging Project And Exiles Loss and Displacement
• Robert Polidori: Fra Angelico Opus Operantis
• Art, Faith, Church Patronage and Modernity
• Contemplating the Spiritual in Contemporary Art
• Mat Collishaw Challenges Faith Perspectives With Ushaw Installation
• Waterloo Festival Launches At St. John’s Waterloo
• John Bellany Alan Davie Spiritual Joy and Magic
• RIFT Unites 17 Art and Science MA Graduates At Central St Martins
• Visionary Cities: Michael Takeo Magruder – British Library
• Van Gogh’s Religious Journey Around London
• William Congdon Holy Sites And The Kettle’s Yard Connection
• Mark Dean Premieres Pastiche Mass At Banqueting Hall Chelsea College of Arts
• John Kirby: The Torment
• Underlying The Civilised Facade
• Curating Spiritual Sensibilities In Changing Times
• Homeless Highlighted: New Beau Exhibition At St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Ken Currie: Protest Defeat And Victory
• Bosco Sodi: A Moment Of Genesis
• Bill Viola And The Art Of Contemplation
• Art In Churches 2018: Spiritual Combinations Explored
• Sister Wendy Beckett – A Reminiscence
• Guido Guidi: Per Strada Flowers Gallery London
• Peter Howson: The play is over – Flowers Gallery
• Camille Henrot: Scientific History And Creation Story Mash Up
• Nicola Green Explores Recent And Contemporary Religious Leaders – St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Art And The Consequences Of War Explored In Two Exhibitions
• Helaine Blumenfeld Translating Her Vision
• Sam Ivin: Physically Scratched Portraits Of Asylum Seekers Exhibited
• Sacred Noise: Explores Religion, Faith And Divinity
• Bill Viola: Quiet Contemplative Video Installation St Cuthbert’s Church Edinburgh
• The ground-breaking work of Sister Corita Kent
• Picasso To Souza: The Crucifixion Imagery Rarely Exhibited
• Michael Takeo Magruder: De / coding the Apocalypse – Panacea Museum
• Giorgio Griffa: The Golden Ratio And Inexplicable Knowledge
• Arabella Dorman Unveils New Installation At St James Church Piccadilly
• Can Art Transform Society?
• Art Awakening Humanity Conference Report
• Central St Martins in the Fields Design Then And Now
• The Sacramental And Liturgical Nature Of Conceptual Art
• Polish Art In Britain: Centenary Marked At London’s Ben Uri Gallery
• Refugee Artists: Learning from The Lives Of Others
• The Religious Impulses Of Robert Rauschenberg
• The Christian Science Connection Within The British Modern Art Movement
• Artists Rebranding The Christmas Tree Tradition
• Art Impacted - A Radical Response To Radicalisation
• The Art of St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Was Caravaggio A Good Christian?

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Curtis Mayfield - We The People Who Are Darker Than Blue.

Windows on the world (385)

 Southend-on-Sea, 2022

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Steve Bell - The Divine Image.

Windows on the world (384)

 Southend-on-Sea, 2022

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Crowded House - Distant Sun.

Living God's Future Now - w/c 10 October 2021

'Living God’s Future Now’ is our mini online festival of theology, ideas and practice.

We’ve developed this in response to the pandemic and our changing world. The church is changing too, and - as we improvise and experiment - we can learn and support each other.

This is 'Living God’s Future Now’ - talks, workshops and discussion - hosted by HeartEdge. Created to equip, encourage and energise churches - from leaders to volunteers and enquirers - at the heart and on the edge.

The online programme includes:

• Regular weekly workshops: Sermon Preparation (Tuesdays) and Community of Practitioners (Wednesdays)
• One-off workshops on topics relevant to lockdown such as ‘Growing online communities’ and ‘Grief, Loss & Remembering’

Find earlier Living God’s Future Now sessions at https://www.facebook.com/pg/theHeartEdge/videos/?ref=page_internal.

Regular – Weekly

• Tuesdays: Sermon Preparation Workshop, 16:30 (GMT), livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/theHeartEdge/.
• Wednesdays: Community of Practitioners workshop, 16:00 (GMT), Zoom meeting. Email jonathan.evens@smitf.org to register.

Sunday

HeartEdge Youth Conversation: Vaccination
Sunday 10 October, 2pm BST / 3pm ZT.
Livestreamed on the Facebook page of the Cathedral of St Mary the Virgin, Johannesburg - https://www.facebook.com/cathedralofstmarythevirgin.
This Vaccine webinar will focus on various topics related to the COVID-19 vaccine, such as the importance of getting vaccinated, myths around the vaccine and access to the vaccine.

Monday

Biblical Studies class
Zoom
Monday 11 October, 19:30-20:30 (GMT)
Register here - https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMrcOmgrTgsHt2ceY7LepLhQYqQxS1G1ix9.
This will be the final lecture in our series on the Gospel of John with Revd Dr Simon Woodman. Catch up on earlier lectures here - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlvcWu7Opl4xmi7jwN51DGv5BKuzBhvKW.

Tuesday

Healing the Earth: Reconciling Mission
Zoom
Tuesday 12 October, 14.00-15.00 (GMT)
Register here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/healing-the-earth-reconciling-mission-tickets-139537379057.
In the run-up to COP26, this discussion between Ali Angus, Alistair McKay, Alex Hilton and Rachel Mash will explore the role of Christians in addressing the climate crisis and healing the Earth.

Sam and Sally's Sermon Preparation Workshop
Livestream
Tuesday 12 October, 16:30-17:30 (GMT)
Livestreamed on HeartEdge Facebook Page here- https://www.facebook.com/theHeartEdge/.
Sam Wells and Sally Hitchiner discuss preaching from the Revised Common Lectionary in the light of current events and general good practice.

Wednesday

Community of Practitioners
Zoom
Wednesday 13 October, 16:00-17:00 (GMT)
Email Jonathan Evens at jonathan.evens@smitf.org to take part.
This is open to all, including ordinands and lay leaders. Church leaders join in community, share and reflect together on their recent experiences in the form of wonderings with one of the HeartEdge team.

HeartEdge Commerce Day in Southend-on-Sea
In-person at Belle Vue Baptist Church, Southend-on-Sea SS1 2QZ.
Wednesday 13 October, 10:00-15:30 (GMT)
Email Nicky Snoad at nicky.snoad@stbbc.org.uk to book a place.
A day exploring creatively extending mission and generating finance through commerce, enterprise and hospitality. Open to all, lunch included.

Thursday

Living God's Future Now: Brian McLaren in Conversation with Sam Wells
Zoom
Thursday 14 October, 18:00-19:00 (GMT)
Register here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/living-gods-future-now-brian-mclaren-tickets-184208872697.
Brian McLaren is a theologian and pastor who has written widely on ministry in a postmodern context and is a leading figure in the emerging church movement in the USA. This is the final event in a series of conversations between Sam Wells and leading theologians, exploring how we might build God's kingdom in the present.

Understanding Climate Change (Creation Care Week 2)
Zoom
Thursday 14 October, 19:30-21:00 (GMT)
Register here - https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkcu6opz4rEtFamJIs6M2cAlvzTQmJT0a_.
In collaboration with The Diocese of Chester, HeartEdge, Melanesian Mission UK and Southampton University, this event will look at climate change, its drivers and impacts from a scientific perspective.

Saturday

(Still) Calling from the Edge: Disability & Church Conference
Zoom
Saturday 16 October, 10.00-16.30 (GMT)
Register here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/still-calling-from-the-edge-tickets-164001249151.
Join us for our 10th annual Disability & Church conference, hosted in partnership with Inclusive Church, exploring issues relating to disability and justice through workshops, liturgy, storytelling and conversation. Our aim is to make this space as accessible as possible — the day will be fully captioned and there will be BSL interpreters present; there will be plenty of breaks and you're free to drop in and out. Please let us know if you have any accessibility needs when registering.

Coming up soon

Autumn Lecture Series – We Have a Dream | Online and at St Martin-in-the-Fields
27 September - 15 November
After the ravages of the pandemic, it’s time for church and society to learn to dream again. Dr Martin Luther King Jr, had a dream of racial equality and social justice. Inspired by his dream, we’re gathering a chorus of dreamers from different walks of life to inform and shape our dreams for the years to come.
These lectures will be live, in person, at St Martin-in-the-Fields, and will also be live-streamed online. There will be a chance for questions from the audience, and we hope to gather with the speakers afterwards at a reception.
The lecture series continues on Monday 18 October with a discussion between Chine McDonald, Robert Beckford and David Lammy MP on The Dream and Racialised Justice. Book a place in-person at St Martin-in-the-Fields or online here - https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/whatson-event/the-dream-and-racialised-justice/.
Tickets are free so that all may attend regardless of circumstances; if you would like to support the cost of our lecture series, you are welcome to give a donation.

Catch up with missed sessions...

Why not catch up with the lectures, workshops and conversation you've missed in the last 14 months or so? If you head over to one of the following platforms you will find a wealth of resources that will inspire and equip for your work, whether you are ordained, lay, or simply enquiring.

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/theHeartEdge

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWUH-ngsbTAKMxCJmoIc7mQ

St Martin's Digital - https://stmartins.digital/heartedge/

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Telling Encounters: Path Through the Woods.

HeartEdge Mailer | September 2018

HeartEdge Mailer | September 2018

"A monthly smorgasbord of ideas, inspiration and resource
focused around HeartEdge 4 C's."

This month

• News of HeartEdge events in Southend, Manchester and Inverness plus:
• Congregation: Jean Vanier on being human, Maggi Dawn on Pilgrimage, Emma Ineson on clergy couples, Paula Gooder on Phoebe and Al Barrett on alertness to privilege and power.
• Commerce: Tips and tactics on making the building work from Locality and transitioning from charity to commercial enterprise.
• Compassion: Asset Based Community Development, Paulo Freire and Gary Salole on collaboration and scaling up, plus Housing Justice on winter night shelters and 'Just Act'.
• Culture: Poetry and prayer with Eugene Peterson and Jericho Brown, Jocelyn Bell Burnell on Pulsars and Ben Quash on space, place and God.

HeartEdge is an international ecumenical movement of churches and other organisations developing mission focused on commercial activity, congregations, cultural engagement and compassion.

Click here to read September's Mailer.

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Henryk Gorecki - Szeroka Woda.

At the heart. On the edge.

Following the recent HeartEdge conference, our next HeartEdge events are two Introductory Days in Manchester and Inverness:

• at the heart. on the edge. Wednesday 31 October 2018 at St Peter's House, Oxford Road, Manchester. Exploring mission, sharing ideas, uncovering solutions and finding support. A day with Revd Dr Sam Wells and guests. Panel discussion, theology, practical ‘how to’ focus. Networking. Connecting. Lunch & refreshments. Refreshments 10am. Programme 10.30am. Finish 3.30pm. Book in here - http://bit.ly/2LDT7Es.
• ‘At the heart. On the edge.' Tuesday 13 November, 10.00am - 3.30pm. A day hosted by Rev Fiona Smith, Minister of Ness Bank Parish Church, and Revd Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the- Fields, which includes theology, ideas, solutions and support for re-imagining Church. A programme has been developed jointly by Ness Bank Church and St Martin’s. The day, to be held at Ness Bank Church on Tuesday 13 November 10 am to 3.30 pm, will explore, with contributions from local churches, mission and ministry in relation to the four pillars of HeartEdge: Congregation; Commerce; Compassion; and Culture. Among those contributing are: Rev Sarah Murray (Provost St Andrew’s Cathedral Inverness), Allan Dunbar (Christians Against Poverty debt programme), Isobel Grigor (Chief Executive of Calman Trust), Rev Fiona Smith (Inverness Foodstuff). St Martin’s Fellows directed by Andrew Earis with perform Great Sacred Music, a 35-minute sequence of choral music speaking to heart, head and soul which explores through song and readings the great classical music of our religious heritage. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/at-the-heart-on-the-edge-tickets-48122091471. 

Other HeartEdge speaking engagements include:

• How can church survive and thrive in the context of world and kingdom? Sam Wells at Bell Vue Baptist Southend on Wednesday 3 October, 6.30-9.30pm (Bell Vue Baptist Church, Southend on Sea, SS1 2QA). Doors open 6pm. Talk 1: 6.30pm Break: 7.45pm Talk 2: 8.20pm. Details here and here.
• Salt Conference 2018: #StandTogether, Friday, 5 October 2018 – 9.30am to 4.30pm at Central Hall Westminster, Storey's Gate, London SW1H 9NH. Organised by Christian Aid's SALT Business Network to learn how to support and equip changemakers in whichever business God has called you to. With business leaders from a range of sectors on how they’re transforming business, communities and lives. HeartEdge will run a workshop on Start:Stop. Conference guests include: Michael Hastings – Global Head of Citizenships for KPMG International; David Connor – founder of the 2030hub and Coethica; Sophi Tranchell MBE – Managing Director of Divine Chocolate, the innovative international Fairtrade cocoa cooperative in Ghana; and Martin Rich – cofounder and Executive Director of Future Fit Foundation. Tickets cost £55. Details here.

HeartEdge is an emerging network initiated by St Martin-in-the-Fields - more here http://bit.ly/2mRUzWX.

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Bruce Cockburn - Strong Hand of Love.