Art events & exhibitions update 2

Leaves for Healing is a two-part exhibition organised by the artist’s and craftspersons’ group at St Martin-in-the-Fields. During Lent the exhibition runs from 6 March - 20 April and in Eastertide from 21 April - 9 June. 

The theme is taken from Ezekiel 47:1-12, a vision of a transformed desert landscape. 18 artists from the congregation are showing work, some of which was created in the Drawing Club and art workshops organised by the group.

Ezekiel 47:1-12 is a marvellously evocative passage using much natural imagery – water, rivers, sea, swamps, marshes, fish, trees, fruit, leaves etc. The temple, as the place where God’s presence was very real, is seen as the source of new life, water flowing out and into the landscape, transforming the barren, empty desert into incredibly fertile land. In a barren landscape the passage finishes with a wonderful vision of the fruit from the trees that grow being food and the leaves used for healing. We have here a vision of life being released into the dry desert of Ezekiel’s time and encouragement for us to imagine this life flowing into our 21st century context. 

The exhibition utilises this imagery to explore themes of flourishing, growth, healing and worship. The two halves of the exhibition reflect the transition from wilderness to fertile land.

Pastiche Mass, Thursday 21 March 2019, 6.00pm, Chelsea College of Arts, 45 Milbank, London SW1P 4JU

Pastiche Mass is a liturgical artwork composed and led by artist and ordained minister Mark Dean.

Dean has replaced the choral parts of the traditional mass setting with video and sound, incorporating a mixture of original and appropriated film and music. The work will premiere in the context of a Eucharist in the Banqueting Hall at Chelsea College of Arts, where Dean is licensed to minister the sacraments as chaplain.

All welcome, but places are limited, so please register for a free ticket in order to attend the event. The service will start shortly after 6pm. Please stay for refreshments afterwards.

Hosted by Art + Christianity and Arts Chaplaincy Projects.



Solace at St Peter's - Lent Creative Workshops on Wednesdays: March 13th, March 27th, April 3rd. 12noon – 3pm & Saturdays: March 16th & April 6th. 12noon-3pm. St Peter De Beauvoir Town, Northchurch Terrace, London N1 4DA.

This Lent, artists Sophie Alston and Ingrid Pumayalla (working from Peru), with students under the auspices of Arts Chaplaincy Projects (University of the Arts, London) will create: SOLACE AT ST PETER’S.

Using natural materials from around the neighbourhood and textile crafts, everyone is invited to St Peter de Beauvoir, to create a series of sculptures around the building, exploring the themes of spring and new life, and nurturing connections between congregation and community.

Sophie Alston & Ingrid Pumayalla are MA Fine Art graduates from Central Saint Martins with experience of participatory, craft-based residencies – most recently collaborating in an arts project at Princess Alice Hospice in Surrey, as recently exhibited in the Window Galleries at CSM.

They have a shared interest in the spiritual potential of art for healing and will be working with the community in and around St Peter de Beauvoir Town during Lent to create a series of sculptural installations exploring themes of spring and new life.

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Mark Hollis - A New Jerusalem.

St Peter De Beauvoir Town - Memory Installation

St Peter De Beauvoir Town is a place of worship and prayer, with services and spaces to help parishioners and visitors on their life journey. They are deeply rooted in the neighbourhood of De Beauvoir, and host a wealth of community activity in their newly renovated crypt.

This Easter, artist Angela Wright created 'an installation for the church which was made in conjunction with four workshops using 'Memory' as their theme.' 'It presents objects lent by Angela and church attendees.' 'This offered the church a valuable opportunity for outreach to older people and dementia support networks. The installation provided a backdrop to a Lent programme of Holy Conversations – stories of St Peter’s and stories of God: stories of grace and well-being, scarcity and abundance, grief and change.'

'Her addition hardly changes the building environment - adding a vague complexity at the margins of sight - diverging from the chancel as if scattering fragments of its windows' colours into the body of the church. When however one approaches a wall, miscellaneous objects, trapped and flaunted in a turbulent stream of wire, become increasingly recognisable as a detritus of ordinary manufactured and naturally formed things. One's curiosity is aroused and one's attention focuses a single object, which stripped of its context of familiarity - of use and meaning that is extraneous to actuality - is awarded uniqueness and we see it as bizarre: a thing manifesting complex characteristics that are relatively undiluted by perceptions of its 'place and purpose in the world'.'

Angela has said: “Before I started to attach them I laid out all of the memorable objects on tables and they became my palette. I needed to become familiar with them. Their shapes, their colours, history and how they might live together. Finding that special resting place on the wall was not simple and it could take time, sometimes days and a small percentage of objects were rejected. The placing and space around each object was an important aspect of the installation. In the end around 430 objects were incorporated. In the final week, knitting needles were employed to help direct the sense of movement around the building. Balls of wool picking up the colours of the stained glass were used to draw the eye to the unity of the building.”

'The appreciation of the piece grows by the week as people slowly take it in. At first glance you might think it was a display of leftover Christmas decorations – many of the objects are suspended and catch the changing light in the building. As you draw closer you see that each object has its own space, its own voice and viewing becomes an act of contemplation.'

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The Innocence Mission - Evensong.