Chaiya Art Awards: ‘God is . . .’ at Gallery@OXO

My latest review for Church Times is of Chaiya Art Awards 2021 winners exhibition at Gallery@OXO:

'The Chaiya Art Awards, with roots in Christianity but open to people of all faiths and none, is asking who or what God is, and continuing an age-old conversation in a modern setting with contemporary eyes. It is asking big questions while looking for inspiration from the wealth of the UK’s creatives. What have they found?

Glimpses of unvarnished reality which become moments of revelation are the pearls of great price or treasures buried to which artists attend; and that alertness to epiphany can clearly be discerned in much of the work included here.'

“God is . . .” runs at Gallery@OXO, Bargehouse Street, London SE1 9PH from 14 to 23 May 2021, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. every day (till 4 p.m. on last day). It can also be viewed online at chaiyaartawards.co.uk. The 2021 Award winners can be found by clicking here.

My Artlyst interview of Chaiya Art Awards founder Katrina Moss can be read here and my ArtWay visual meditation on the winning entry in the 2018 Awards is here. 

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here.

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Emmylou Harris - Sweet Old World.

ArtWay Meditation: Deborah Thompsett

My latest visual meditation for ArtWay has just been published. This meditation is on Deborah Tompsett's A Thousand Bottles of Tears. I conclude the meditation by saying:

'Deborah began by seeking a vessel to hold our tears of sorrow and joy, our shouts of pain and grief, our questions and thanksgivings. As Williams and Etzioni state, now that our loved one is gone, we can't cry hard enough for that person to hear us now. Nevertheless our tears, as Washington Irving remarked, are not a mark of weakness, but of power: ‘They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition and of unspeakable love.’ That is why there is ‘a sacredness in tears’, a sacredness that is captured and held in this installation. ‘Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee.’

A Thousand Bottles of Tears won the The Chaiya Art Awards 2018. The Awards proved hugely popular, with over 450 entries and more than 2,700 exhibition visitors. Awards founder Katrina Moss says, in an interview with me, also published by ArtWay, ‘I set up the project to uncover and promote gifted artists looking to explore spirituality, faith and social change through their creativity. It was a delight to see that fulfilled in the artwork we received in 2018.’

The Chaiya Art Awards is open to any artist and covers all mediums including painting, drawing sculpture, ceramics, glass, textiles, mixed media, photography and video. Entrants are invited to be authentic and daring as they respond to the theme ‘God is …’. There are other cash prizes as well as the main £10,000 award, including £1,000 for the Public’s Choice from the gallery exhibition. A new category for Community Groups, who can submit a collaborative piece, has also been introduced.

The culmination will be an exhibition over Easter 2020 at London’s prestigious gallery@oxo. Consisting of all shortlisted entrants it will run from 10 to 19 April 2020.

My other ArtWay meditations include work by María Inés Aguirre, Giampaolo Babetto, Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Alexander de Cadenet, Christopher Clack, Marlene Dumas, Terry Ffyffe, Antoni Gaudi, Nicola Green, Maciej Hoffman, Giacomo Manzù, Michael Pendry, Maurice Novarina, Regan O'Callaghan, Ana Maria Pacheco, John Piper, Albert Servaes, Henry Shelton and Anna Sikorska.

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The Williams Brothers - Can't Cry Hard Enough.