Church Times: Returning Journeys by Andrew Vessey at St Edmundsbury Cathedral

My latest review for Church Times is of Returning Journeys by Andrew Vessey at St Edmundsbury Cathedral:

'Vessey is an artist of integration, with a unitive vision, seeing God and stories interwoven within landscape. Christ and an angel underpin several of these landscapes, while light irradiates and illuminates from deep within. Images within images, paintings within paintings, are all set in a chapel within a chapel: visual and spiritual depth held together.'

Vessey thinks the particular duty of the artist who is a Christian is to develop images and symbols that stretch the meaning of our inherited biblical visual vocabulary.

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here. My writing for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Artlyst are here and those for Art+Christianity are here. See also Modern religious art: airbrushed from art history?

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Rev Simpkins - Plough Sunday.

Andrew Vessey: Returning Journey's

 

RETURNING JOURNEYS ART EXHIBITION

November 5, 2022 | 10:00 am – November 20, 2022 | 4:00 pm
St Edmundsbury Cathedral

Returning Journeys is an exhibition of paintings and reflections by Andrew Vessey. Andrew was ordained at St Edmundsbury Cathedral in 1986 before becoming a Curate in Framlingham and Saxtead. He is now retired.

His work is on view in the Edmund Chapel and, with the paintings arranged to make a space for contemplation, the result makes a ‘chapel within a Chapel’. You are welcome to talk with Andrew and view the process of bringing art to life as he works, in various mediums, on new pieces inspired by the Bury Cross.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is a work titled ‘Homage to John Mason’, the 17th century poet whose increasingly popular hymn is about the glory of God and the questioning of humanity’s faith. Other paintings on show by Andrew explore the connection between biblical story and those places in which the artist has been brought face to face with the sharp reality of the presence of God.

12 paintings are displayed, each with an accompanying text incorporating a reflection, a poem and a prayer, all written by the artist. The exhibition is open daily between 10.00am – 4.00pm from Saturday 5 November to Sunday 20 November.

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Van Morrison - In The Garden.