Between: the bridge

Showing posts with label the bridge. Show all posts

Monday, 29 April 2024

Artlyst: Tate Expressionists Exhibition Reveals Spirituality and Past Gender Disparity

My latest exhibiti on review for Artlyst is on Expressionists: Kandinsky, Münter and the Blue Rider at the Tate Modern:

'Apart from Impressionism, most early modern art movements had significant spiritual inspirations and motivations. Expressionism, whether that of The Blue Rider (Der Blaue Reiter) or The Bridge (Die Brücke), was no different and may have been one of the movements where spirituality was of the most influence.

The Blue Rider claimed that art knows no borders, and they sought to demonstrate the reality of that claim in Der Blaue Reiter Almanac, published in 1912. Yet, as the room specifically dedicated to images with a spiritual focus shows, their aesthetic concerns developed parallel with their belief in the deep spiritual significance of artistic experimentation, which drove their creative investigations.'

See also my review for Artlyst of After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art.

Interviews -

Monthly diary articles -

Articles/Reviews -

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Bill Mallonee - Of Future Partridge Families (Back Of The Bus).

Thursday, 6 August 2015

A Common Call for Dependence

The sermon given by Revd Paul-Gordon Chandler last Sunday can be heard on the website for St Martin-in-the-Fields. Paul-Gordon is the Founder and President of CARAVAN Arts, and curated the interfaith exhibition The Bridge which appeared at St Martin’s during June and July.

Titled "A Common Call to Dependence," Paul-Gordon, referring to "THE BRIDGE" art exhibition, encourages listeners to learn from the faith traditions of our Middle Eastern sisters and brothers.

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Sami Yusuf - Supplication.

Saturday, 1 August 2015

Paul-Gordon Chandler and The Bridge

Paul-Gordon Chandler will be preaching at St Martin-in-the-Fields tomorrow during the 10.00am Parish Eucharist as The Bridge exhibition comes to a close.

Paul is an author, interfaith advocate, social entrepreneur and U.S. Episcopal priest who has worked extensively in the Middle East. He is Founder and President of CARAVAN, the international peace-building arts non-profit (NGO) that builds bridges through the arts between the Middle East and West, and has brought The Bridge exhibition to life. Paul has much to share about its inspiration and journey.

The Bridge is a groundbreaking interfaith gathering of premier and emerging artists, focusing on what they hold in common through their Arab, Persian and Jewish cultures, and their Christian, Muslim and Jewish creeds.

Have you come to view the exhibition while it has been at St Martin's? If so, we would love to know what you thought. We have created a short survey which poses questions we hope will help you think about it a little deeper. Take part in the survey here.

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Malek Jandali - Caravan.

Wednesday, 8 July 2015

The Map is Not the Territory

Three of the artists participating in "The Bridge" exhibition currently at St Martin-in-the-Fields - Manal Deeb, Helen Zughaib and Mona El Bayoumi - are also exhibiting at the P21 Gallery in an interesting travelling exhibition titled "The Map is Not the Territory".

'“The Map is Not the Territory”, looks at relationships and commonalities in Palestinian, Native American, and Irish experiences of invasion, occupation, and colonization – not as novelty or polemic, but as history and current events. To understand history is the first step toward peace.

Thirty-nine contemporary artists – most of them Palestinian, Native American, and Irish – explore the profound specific and unusual intersections between the three cultures with original paintings, photographs, prints, drawings, artist books, and films. They consider such topics as conflict, resistance, land, food, diaspora, identity, and persistence.'

In an earlier post I highlighted ‘Frayed Ideologies’ at the Hay Hill Gallery which presents the latest paintings by the internationally acclaimed artist Patrick Altes, who also has a work (Hybridity) in "The Bridge", and invites us to consider the struggle to define ourselves, and the process of being human.

Altes, with other of the artists participating in "The Bridge" - Mohamed Abouelnaga and Sameh Ismael - is represented by Janet Rady Fine Art which shows 'a wide range of cutting edge Contemporary Arab and Iranian artists as well as International artists whose work references the Middle East.'

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Rush - Closer To The Heart.

Friday, 26 June 2015

Patrick Altes: Frayed Ideologies and Hybridity

‘Frayed Ideologies’ at the Hay Hill Gallery presents the latest paintings by the internationally acclaimed artist Patrick Altes and invites us to consider the struggle to define ourselves, and the process of being human.

The work relates to the melting pots and breaking points of land, conflict, and diaspora. It refers to our living in times of extreme turbulence and instability – both political and environmental - and herald dreams and resurgences from the unconscious linked to the artist's personal vision and perception of the world. The series of large-scale paintings are visually arresting with their powerful monochromatic collages and complex markings. They depict mass movement, the drive and energy of eruption, transition and revolution. These shreds of papers collaged on the canvas are purposely distressed, torn and show marks of the passage of time. They are never-merging and forever juxtaposing; they find their junctions and their specific arrangement to form non-random, synchronistic shapes, patterns, movements and tensions, which echo the inner tensions driving the artistic process. The use of paper is deliberately reminiscent of calligraphy and arabesques. It harks back to a variety of western and eastern influences: Aborigines' myths of origins, Villeglie's torn posters, Japanese action painting, and lyrical abstraction.

Patrick Altes says: "In a world with constant, often rapid and brutal transformation, our identity remains defined by our attachment and sense of belonging to a specific land. Straddling two worlds refers to this delicate and often uneasy balancing act that we experience when living in a culture different from the one we originate and the sense of uneasiness and not anchored that it elicits. This restlessness can be construed as a disadvantage or enjoyed for its liberating aspect. There is a mirror effect between outer fractures in the world and the inner turmoil we are experiencing. Sitting on the fence is no longer an option as moral dilemmas concern us all."

Hybridity by Altes can be seen in The Bridge at St Martin-in-the-Fields. Altes writes of this work: "Whether or not you are a believer, the cultural, social, and political importance of religions is indisputable. They are intertwined in the history of civilization and often the prime source of their evolution. They can act as great dividers or powerful pacifiers. This painting represents the living space of freedom and dynamic harmony religions can create when they bring the best in humanity."

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Duke Special - In A Dive.

Tuesday, 9 June 2015

The Bridge: Exhibition launch

Last night the official launch and reception for The Bridge, a ground-breaking interfaith exhibition of premier and emerging visual artists, was held at St Martin-in-the-Fields. Speakers included: The Hon Nasser Kamel, Ambassador of Egypt, Revd Canon Paul-Gordon Chandler, Founder & President of CARAVAN, Most Revd Dr Bishop Mouneer Anis, Bishop of Egypt and Primate of Jerusalem and the Middle East, and Most Revd and Rt Hon Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury. The St Martins Voices and Sami Yusuf sang.

The Bridge is an East-West travelling art exhibition organised and curated by CARAVAN, an interreligious and intercultural peacebuilding NGO. It showcases the work of 47 premier contemporary visual artists from 15 countries. Each artist has submitted one original work (created specifically for the exhibition) addressing the theme. The Bridge is an unparalleled gathering of international artists focusing on what they hold in common through their cultures and creeds: Christian, Muslim and Jewish.

The Bridge is at St Martin-in-the-Fields until 31 July.

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Sami Yusuf - The Gift Of Love.

Friday, 5 June 2015

Crossroads: lives which are not linear

Like many of us at St Martin-in-the-Fields I have enjoyed beginning to peruse and reflect on ‘The Bridge’ exhibition which will be with us until 31st July.

When an exhibition includes lots of works, as does ‘The Bridge’ with 47 pieces, it is easy to be distracted from the piece you are viewing by other works nearby that have not yet been seen. However, art rewards contemplation, so on my first view I thought I would focus on one image rather than the totality of the exhibition.

‘Crossroads’ by Azadeh Ghotbi is an abstract painting in which cubist planes in yellows and greens combine to form the sinuous curves of crossing and connecting paths. Each coloured line, Ghotbi writes, ‘represents a person with a unique story, cultural background, belief system and sensibility.’

The painting derives from her own personal experience as someone who was born a Muslim, attended a Catholic School, married an atheist, and whose bridesmaids were Muslim and Jewish respectively. As a result, the painting depicts the interaction of our lives; lives which, as she says, ‘are not linear’ but which cross, bridge and impact each other.

Various statements have been made in philosophy and art suggesting that God does not move the world in a straight line or build in straight lines. These statements are contentious in terms of the natural world but make absolute sense when applied to building or sustaining community. If we live along straight lines only, we effectively live parallel lives. This may be why I recently heard someone apply this phrase to the curved lines of our EastWindow.

So, while it is here, do have a good look at Azadeh Ghotbi’s ‘Crossroads’ and see what it suggests to you both about the nature of our community here at St Martin’s and the relational God that we worship.

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Mick Jagger featuring Lenny Kravitz - God Gave Me Everything.

Tuesday, 21 April 2015

The Bridge: an East-West travelling art exhibition

The Bridge is an East-West travelling art exhibition organised and curated by CARAVAN, an inter-religious and intercultural peacebuilding NGO. It showcases the work of 47 premier contemporary visual artists from 15 countries. Each artist has submitted one original work (created specifically for the exhibition) addressing the theme. The Bridge is an unparalleled gathering of international artists focusing on what they hold in common through their cultures and creeds: Christian, Muslim and Jewish.

The Bridge serves as a common starting point on which to build, towards seeing the development of a world that inherently respects and honours cultural and religious diversity, living and working together in harmony.

The exhibition showcases the work of 47 visionary contemporary artists who focus on what they hold in common through their cultures and creeds, illustrating their ideas of how to build bridges between us all. The Bridge will be at St Martin-in-the-Fields from June 1 - July 31.

Find out more about the exhibition - http://www.oncaravan.org/#!2015-about-the-bridge/cl8n.

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Rickie Lee Jones - I Was There.