Between: stanley spencer gallery

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Friday, 21 February 2025

Church Times - Art review: Seeing the Unseen at Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham

My latest exhibition review for C hurch T imes is on Seeing the Unseen: Reality and Imagination in the Art of Stanley Spencer at The Stanley Spencer Gallery:

'While the naivety of some of Spencer’s imagery and ideas can lead to a dismissal of his work as a whole, his affirmative, inclusive and reconciliatory impulses and images are surely close to the compassionate heart of the incarnation. For all his personal fallibilities and the shortcomings of some images, it is hard to think of many other modern artists in whose work the compassionate heart of Christ beats as steadily and fully, and for that we should be profoundly grateful.'

For more on Stanley Spencer, see here and here.

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, those for Seen & Unseen are here, and those for Art+Christianity are here.

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Sara Watkins - Take Up Your Spade.

Friday, 14 February 2025

Seen and Unseen: Stanley Spencer’s seen and unseen world

My latest article for Seen and Unseen is about Stanley Spencer’s seen and unseen world and the artist’s child-like sense of wonder as he saw heaven everywhere:

"Spencer’s biblical and symbolic images are primarily set within Cookham, as the village itself suggested settings for specific scenes to him. The Betrayal is set at the end of Spencer’s own garden where the distinctive buildings of the maltings can be seen in the background. The Last Supper is then set in those same maltings, while Sarah Tubb and the Heavenly Visitors is set in the garden of Sarah Tubb’s home on Cookham High Street. Through this means Spencer emphasises both the universality and particularity of the Bible’s stories, in that they can be reimagined or reenacted anywhere and in the humblest of settings.”

For more on Stanley Spencer see here. See here, here and here for my articles on artists, like Spencer, in the tradition of William Blake.

My first article for Seen and Unseen was 'Life is more important than art' which reviews the themes of recent art exhibitions that tackle life’s big questions and the roles creators take.

My second article 'Corinne Bailey Rae’s energised and anguished creative journey' explores inspirations in Detroit, Leeds and Ethiopia for Corinne Bailey Rae’s latest album, Black Rainbows, which is an atlas of capacious faith.

My third article was an interview with musician and priest Rev Simpkins in which we discussed how music is an expression of humanity and his faith.

My fourth article was a guide to the Christmas season’s art, past and present. Traditionally at this time of year “great art comes tumbling through your letterbox” so, in this article, I explore the historic and contemporary art of Christmas.

My fifth article was 'Finding the human amid the wreckage of migration'. In this article I interviewed Shezad Dawood about his multimedia Leviathan exhibition at Salisbury Cathedral where personal objects recovered from ocean depths tell a story of modern and ancient migrations.

My sixth article was 'The visionary artists finding heaven down here' in which I explored a tradition of visionary artists whose works shed light on the material and spiritual worlds.

My seventh article was 'How the incomer’s eye sees identity' in which I explain how curating an exhibition for Ben Uri Online gave me the chance to highlight synergies between ancient texts and current issues.

My eighth article was 'Infernal rebellion and the questions it asks' in which I interview the author Nicholas Papadopulos about his book The Infernal Word: Notes from a Rebel Angel.

My ninth article was 'A day, night and dawn with Nick Cave’s lyrics' in which I review Adam Steiner’s Darker With The Dawn — Nick Cave’s Songs Of Love And Death and explore whether Steiner's rappel into Cave’s art helps us understand its purpose.

My 10th article was 'Theresa Lola's poetical hope' about the death-haunted yet lyrical, joyful and moving poet for a new generation.

My 11th article was 'How to look at our world: Aaron Rosen interview', exploring themes from Rosen's book 'What Would Jesus See: Ways of Looking at a Disorienting World'.

My 12th article was 'Blake, imagination and the insight of God', exploring a new exhibition - 'William Blake's Universe at the Fitzwilliam Museum - which focuses on seekers of spiritual regeneration and national revival.

My 13th article 'Matthew Krishanu: painting childhood' was an interview with Matthew Krishanu on his exhibition 'The Bough Breaks' at Camden Art Centre.

My 14th article was entitled 'Art makes life worth living' and explored why society, and churches, need the Arts.

My 15th article was entitled 'The collective effervescence of sport's congregation' and explored some of the ways in which sport and religion have been intimately entwined throughout history

My 16th article was entitled 'Paradise cottage: Milton reimagin’d' and reviewed the ways in which artist Richard Kenton Webb is conversing with the blind poet in his former home (Milton's Cottage, Chalfont St Giles).

My 17th article was entitled 'Controversial art: how can the critic love their neighbour?'. It makes suggestions of what to do when confronted with contentious culture.

My 18th article was an interview entitled 'Art, AI and apocalypse: Michael Takeo Magruder addresses our fears and questions'. In the interview the digital artist talks about the possibilities and challenges of artificial intelligence.

My 19th article was entitled 'Dark, sweet and subtle: recovered music orientates us'. In the article I highlight alt-folk music seeking inspiration from forgotten hymns.

My 20th article was entitled 'Revisiting Amazing Grace inspires new songs'. In the article I highlight folk musicians capturing both the barbaric and the beautiful in the hymn Amazing Grace and Christianity's entanglement with the transatlantic slave trade more generally.

My 21st article was entitled 'James MacMillan’s music of tranquility and discord'. In the article I noted that the composer’s music contends both the secular and sacred.

My 22nd article was a book review on Nobody's Empire by Stuart Murdoch. 'Nobody's Empire: A Novel is the fictionalised account of how ... Murdoch, lead singer of indie band Belle and Sebastian, transfigured his experience of Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME) through faith and music.'

My 23rd article was entitled 'Rock ‘n’ roll’s long dance with religion'. The article explores how popular music conjures sacred space.

My 24th article was an interview with Alastair Gordon on the artist’s attention which explores why the overlooked and everyday capture the creative gaze.

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Wilder Woods - Light Shine In.

Friday, 9 February 2024

Art review: Everywhere is Heaven: Stanley Spencer and Roger Wagner at the Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham

My latest exhibition review for C hurch T imes is on “Everywhere is Heaven: Stanley Spencer and Roger Wagner” is at the Stanley Spencer Gallery:

'Ultimately, in terms of look and feel, I think that Wagner is closer to his peers, such as Mark Cazalet and Thomas Denny, with whom and others he is part of a loose grouping, than to either Spencer or Blake, although being part of a clear lineage that includes both. Transcendent trees are a significant feature of the work of Cazalet, Denny, and Wagner, particularly in church contexts; and Wagner’s The Flowering Tree is a particularly wonderful example. These are Edenic trees of life, which often, as here, include reference to the tree on which Christ was crucified.

Such reference and focus may place this group of artists closer to the visions of artists such as Samuel Palmer and David Jones than to those of Spencer and Blake. The synergies and contrasts generated by this fascinating exhibition point, perhaps, towards a further and broader exhibition to document the legacy and lineage of British visionary art from Blake onwards, and encompass those mentioned in this review, among others, including Spencer and Wagner in particular.'

Click here to read my Seen & Unseen article on this exhibition and the tradition of visionary artists whose works shed light on the material and spiritual worlds. The friendship between Mark Cazalet, Thomas Denny, Richard Kenton Webb, Nicholas Mynheer, and Roger Wagner is explored here. My writings on Richard Kenton Webb can be read here and here.

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, those for Seen & Unseen are here, and those for Art+Christianity are here.

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Roger Wagner - I Saw The Seraphim.

Saturday, 13 January 2024

Seen & Unseen: The visionary artists finding heaven down here

My latest article for Seen&Unseen is 'The visionary artists finding heaven down here' in which I explore a tradition of visionary artists whose works shed light on the material and spiritual worlds:

'Everywhere is Heaven is an art exhibition of work by Stanley Spencer and Roger Wagner at the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham. It’s the English village where Spencer lived most of his life and which he described as a “village in heaven”. ‘Everywhere is heaven’ is also a description of sacramental theology and a theme for British Visionary artists from William Blake to the present day.

Everywhere is Heaven is the gallery’s first collaboration with a living artist. Wagner has been deeply inspired by Spencer’s paintings, viewing Spencer as being “an artist who seemed to be doing exactly what I wanted to do”...

The work of these two artists has been brought together, in part, because both work in the tradition initiated by the visionary poet and artist, William Blake.'

For more on Stanley Spencer click here, here, and here. For more on Visionary artists click here.

My first article for Seen&Unseen was 'Life is more important than art' which reviews the themes of recent art exhibitions that tackle life’s big questions and the roles creators take.

My second article 'Corinne Bailey Rae’s energised and anguished creative journey' explores inspirations in Detroit, Leeds and Ethiopia for Corinne Bailey Rae’s latest album, Black Rainbows, which is an atlas of capacious faith.

My third article was an interview with musician and priest Rev Simpkins in which we discussed how music is an expression of humanity and his faith.

My fourth article was a guide to the Christmas season’s art, past and present. Traditionally at this time of year “great art comes tumbling through your letterbox” so, in this article, I explore the historic and contemporary art of Christmas.

My fifth article was 'Finding the human amid the wreckage of migration'. In this article I interview Shezad Dawood about his multimedia Leviathan exhibition at Salisbury Cathedral where personal objects recovered from ocean depths tell a story of modern and ancient migrations

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Clifford T Ward - The Travellers.

Wednesday, 1 November 2023

Artlyst: November Art Diary

My November Art Diary for Artlyst highlights exhibitions in Cambridge, Venice, Hastings, Lisbon, St David’s, Cookham and Colchester which explore aspects of relationships. These range from the familial to the transcendent through the work of Chantal Joffe, Celia Paul, Nengi Omuku, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Raul Speek, Stanley Spencer and Roger Wagner, among others:

'‘Everywhere is Heaven: Stanley Spencer & Roger Wagner’ is the Stanley Spencer Gallery’s first collaboration with a living artist. Roger Wagner has been deeply inspired by Stanley Spencer’s paintings, and both artists have been described as ‘visionary geniuses’, each seeking to evoke the mystical in everyday experience. Just as Spencer found Cookham to be ‘heaven on earth’, so Wagner evokes biblical happenings in contemporary settings.

A number of works by Wagner, who is also a published poet, will be hung alongside Spencer’s from the Gallery Collection and the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge, including ‘Builders of the Tower of Babel’ and ‘Making Columns for the Tower of Babel’. The two artists are united by a love of ‘metaphysicals’, as Spencer would have said, including the poets John Donne and Thomas Traherne. Traherne, in particular, wrote with a visionary innocence and found mysticism in the natural world. The title of the exhibition references Spencer’s own words about his painting, ‘John Donne arriving in Heaven’, which has been loaned for this exhibition, and his description of the four figures facing in all directions because ‘everywhere is heaven so to speak’.'

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -

Monthly diary articles -

Articles/Reviews -

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Roger Wagner - I Saw The Seraphim.

Thursday, 25 October 2012

Stanley Spencer Gallery, Dorchester Abbey and St Mary's Iffley

The Stanley Spencer Gallery is celebrating Its 50^th Anniversary this year with an exhibition which includes ‘The Last Supper’ and ‘St Francis and the Birds’ among the highlights. Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford, preached at the service to mark the Gallery’s Anniversary and has also published ‘Christ in the Wilderness’, a series of reflections on paintings by Spencer from the series of the same name.

Bishop Stephen writes of going, in 1991 the centenary of Spencer’s birth, to see The Apotheosis of Love, an exhibition which created for the first time “a display that echoed the various plans that Spencer drew up for what he called his ‘Church House’”, which included the ‘Christ in the Wilderness’ series. This series made a huge impact on the Bishop when he saw them, as paintings about vocation, and over the past twenty years he has frequently reflected on them in talks given at conferences, retreats and study days.

One of the original inspirations for the series was the 40 panels in the chancery roof at Cookham Parish Church, which Spencer wished he could fill in some way. Bishop Stephen writes:

“Between 2004 and 2010 I had the great privilege of serving as Bishop of Reading in the Diocese of Oxford. Being Bishop of Reading essentially meant that I was Bishop of Berkshire and so this also meant Bishop of Cookham. I found it moving to lead worship in Cookham Church; to visit the place in the churchyard where Stanley Spencer’s ashes are buried and the beautifully restored and re-ordered Stanley Spencer gallery; to walk by that bit of the River Thames that Spencer knew so well. Sometimes when I was celebrating the Eucharist I would look up to the chancel ceiling and imagine these paintings looking down at me.”

Dorchester Abbey is a popular venue for music and the arts which earlier in the year hosted the exhibition ‘John Piper and the Church’. The artwork here ranges from a medieval lead font decorated with the figures of eleven apostles, a stained glass roundel dating from 1225, and C.14^th wall paintings of the crucifixion to late Pre-Raphaelite Lady Chapel decorations and contemporary choir stalls, processional cross and altar frontal.

CADA (Contemporary Arts in Dorchester Abbey) commissions art exhibitions and performances to take place in Dorchester Abbey. By bringing exhibitions within the ancient walls of the Abbey, CADA nurtures and sustains the traditional relationship of art and religion. In doing so CADA hopes to establish a dialogue between contemporary art and this unique sacred space, and to broaden the spiritual experience of all who come here.

Conrad Shawcross writes: ‘The Abbey is a conceptual environment in which one is given space and time to consider the important questions that circle you. It is a place that provides the opportunity for the manifold problems and stresses of our lives to be sorted and reconciled. As an artist I am always trying to create works that, while I have specific inspirations, retain an ambiguity and resist a clear interpretation, providing a multitude of possibilities for the viewer. For me a church operates in a similar way, while being designed and built from very specific intent, it goes beyond this, and is more than the sum of its parts, its broad and layered meaning lying more in the introcosm in each who inhabits and passes through the space’.

St Mary’s Iffley also has a significant history during which, as a living building, it has been adapted to meet the needs of those using the building and to reflect fresh emphases in Christian belief. Most recent are two Baptistry windows installed in 1995 and 2012 and an aumbry with limestone sculptures:

“The South window, by John Piper installed in 1995, shows the Tree of Life, with birds and beasts announcing Christ’s Nativity in Latin, which may be made to sound like the noises these animals make naturally... The North window, by Roger Wagner and installed in 2012, depicts the Tree of Life in full blossom, with Christ crucified, but in the glory of the coming Resurrection. From beneath the Tree flows the River of Paradise apparently towards the baptistery font, the waters of which when blessed are symbolically from that River. Sheep representing Christ’s flock shelter under the branches ... the ... aumbry ... [is] the work of Nicholas Mynheer, it has been sculpted in limestone with an oak door and depicts the angels at the empty tomb ... This is the first figural sculptural addition to the church since the twelfth century.”

Roger Wagner created his vision of the tree of life with the help of stained glass artist Tom Denny: “It was a rather daunting process, but Tom Denny, a good friend of mine, showed me the ropes. He is one of the greatest stained glass window makers in England at the moment.” Information about an art trail highlighting the work of Tom Denny can be found here.

There is also an additional Chelmsford Diocese connection here as the Dean of Chelmsford Cathedral, Peter Judd, was Vicar of St Mary's Iffley in the period when the Piper window was commissioned and installed. He spoke about the commission during a Study Day at Chelmsford Cathedral organised by commission4mission and has overseen a significant number of contemporary commissions at the Cathedral which make it one of several examples of good practice in commissioning within the Diocese of Chelmsford (see here and here, for others).

Stephen Cottrell, in writing of the paintings of Stanley Spencer, sums up something of the way in which these artworks speak:

“His paintings are iconic, in the literal sense of that word: windows into God, or, as Spencer alludes, places of encounter, burning bushes ... They lead us to stillness, to contemplation, to a greater appreciation of God’s presence, and an increased desire to know Christ and follow in his way.”

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John Mellencamp - Paper In Fire.