Between: transformation

Showing posts with label transformation. Show all posts

Saturday, 15 March 2025

Artlyst - An Uncommon Thread: Hauser & Wirth Somerset

My latest exhibition review for Artlyst is on ‘An Uncommon Thread’, Hauser & Wirth Somerset, with a mention also of the work of Ernst Blensdorf in Bruton:

"‘An Uncommon Thread’ is part of an ongoing Hauser & Wirth Somerset initiative that champions emerging and mid-career artists. The exhibition features 10 contemporary artists driven by curiosity and inventive approaches to materiality and process. Each artist shown demonstrates a commitment to the integral role materials and techniques play in their creative process, employing unexpected painting surfaces, adapting formal craft traditions and repurposing discarded products into compelling works. Use is made of a wide range of different materials including sanyan fabric, latex, satin, beading, black oyster anchor bands, an aeroplane engine fan cover, and Hebridean fleece, among others.

As a result, the multidisciplinary exhibition highlights the transformative power of unconventional mediums in evoking personal and collective memories while also demonstrating how reuse and reclamation in the creation of environmentally charged works can shine a spotlight on the damage done to the environment by human greed. The 10 artists, therefore, invite viewers to engage with the rich stories woven into each work through individual investigations of identity, tradition, nature, fantasy and the environment."

For more on Ernst Blensdorf see here and here..

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -

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Andy Squyres - You Bring The Morning.

Sunday, 3 November 2024

Bring us to life - transforming society

Here's the sermon that I shared at St Catherine’s Wickford this morning:

Imagine a bed surrounded by the debris of a week’s illness, soiled sheets and slashed pillows, pills and vodka bottles, used condoms and tissues. This is ‘My Bed’ an installation by Tracy Emin was first exhibited in 1999. You’ll probably remember reading about it in the press at the time as it prompted the usual “call that art, my two-year old could have done better” kind of articles. A bed is a powerful symbol of birth and death, sex and intimacy but this controversial installation was perhaps an image of our culture’s sickness and dis-ease surrounded by the remnants of those things through which we seek a cure; sex, alcohol, drugs, tears, aggression. And the bed, like many lives, was empty. The morning after the cure that never came.

Sometimes our lives feel like that installation. Our relationships may have broken down, we may have been abused, we may be anxious, stressed or worried, our work might be under threat or have ended. For all these reasons and many others we can feel as though our lives have closed down becoming barren or dry or dead. Our communities and culture can feel like that too. Many years ago now, at the end of the 1970’s, The Sex Pistols sang about there being no future in England’s dreaming. And many people still think that our society is changing for the worse. When I had a holiday in Spain a few years ago I stayed on a street that was mainly occupied by British people who had left because they didn’t like the changes that they saw in British society. Such people think of Britain as being diseased and dead with no future for them. Being in the Church it is also easy to feel the same. We are regularly told in the press that the Church is in decline and the Church of England continues to deal with major conflicts that threaten to pull it apart. Again, it is easy to feel as though the Church is washed up, dried out and dying.

Whatever we think of those issues and views, the God that we worship is in the resurrection business. And that is where we need to be too. In our Gospel reading (John 11: 1-45) Jesus said that he is the resurrection and the life and demonstrated this by bringing Lazarus back to life. Through his ministry, Jesus resurrected a society and culture transforming the entire world as he did so. He calls us to follow in his footsteps by looking for the places where our society and culture is dried up or dying and working for its transformation and resurrection. Each of us can do the same as Jesus through our work and community involvements and we need to be asking ourselves how God wants to use us, through those involvements, to transform parts of our society and culture.

Raising Lazarus from death was a sign of what would happen after Jesus’ own death on the cross. By rising from death himself, Jesus conquered death for all people enabling us to enter in to eternal life after our physical death. This is good news for us to share with other people around us wherever we are - in our families and among our friends, neighbours and work colleagues.

Jesus also resurrected lives before physical death came. Look for a moment at John 11 with me. In the first section of that chapter from verses 1 to 16 we see the disciples struggling to understand what Jesus was saying and doing. He wanted them to see how God was at work in Lazarus’ illness and death. They kept looking only at their physical and material circumstances - if Jesus went back to Judea then he would be killed, if Lazarus was asleep then he would get better, and so on. Jesus wanted them to see that God can work even through death and in verse 16 he drew out of them the commitment to go with him even though they might die with him.

Then in verses 17 to 27, Jesus helped Martha move beyond her theoretical belief in the resurrection to a belief that Jesus himself is the promised Messiah. Finally, in verses 38 to 45, he helped all those present to move beyond their focus on physical realities to believe in God’s ability to do the supernatural. Throughout, Jesus was challenging all the people he encountered to move beyond their comfort zones, to step out in faith, to encounter and trust God in new ways. He wants to do the same with each one of us. Wherever our lives have got stuck, have become dried up or closed down or have died he wants to challenge and encourage us to move out of our comfort zones and to encounter him and other people in new and risky ways. He wants us to come alive to God, to the world, to other people and to life itself in new ways.

Jesus is in the resurrection business. Whether it is transforming society, sharing the good news of eternal life or encouraging us to step out in faith, Jesus wants to bring us to life. How will you respond to Jesus this afternoon? Is there an area of your life that he can bring back to life? Will you commit yourself to join in sharing the good news of eternal life with others and transforming society where you are?

As you think about that challenge let us pray together briefly, using the words of a song by Evanescence: Lord Jesus, we are frozen inside without your touch, without your love. You are the life among the dead, so wake us up inside. Call our names and save us from the dark. Bid our blood to run before we come undone, save us from the nothing we’ve become. Bring us to life. Amen.

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Evanescence - Bring Me To Life.

Sunday, 13 October 2024

A transformation of character

Here's the sermon this morning at St Catherine's Wickford and St Mary’s Runwell:

‘In the 1953 film, The Million Pound Note, Gregory Peck is a poor sailor given a £1 million note. Whenever he tries to spend it, people treat him like a king and give him everything for free. Yet in the end the £1million almost costs him his dignity and the woman he loves.

We don’t know why the rich ruler asked about eternal life (Mark 10.17-31). Unhappiness? After all industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie noted long ago that millionaires seldom smile! One of the problems of rising affluence is that ‘enough’ always means just a little more – TV and advertising make sure of that! And money can get in the way of the relationships which are so essential to our happiness.

Whatever the reason Jesus challenges him to give his money to the poor but the price is too high. The rich man walks away, broken-hearted, knowing what he leaves behind. We think of money as opening doors but here it closes the door to life, not just eternal life but to the life of this new community of disciples who put Jesus before their financial choices. He is invited to let go of his money because we can’t travel light with heavy baggage, or engage with others when we are full of ourselves.

This story challenges us about how we live with money, the choices that we make. And the challenge to generosity is one that we cannot duck. A generous heart and a generous lifestyle will open doors for other people in need. It will also open doors for us to new life in Christ and in relationship with his people, his disciples. But following Jesus with our money is not easy. It has to cash out in our day to day living and attitudes. Some years ago Fr John Dresko, an orthodox priest, wrote the following which has not been translated from the original American:

“My gift to God is a genuine reflection of my heart. If I give $400 per month to the bank on my car loan, but think the church is fleecing me for $20 per month, I have a heart problem. If I do my grocery shopping and write a check when I leave for $100 so my family can be fed, but think $20 per month is too much for the Bread of Life, I have a heart problem. If I can go to the package store and drop $20 for a bottle of liquor but gripe about the costs of sharing the Blood of Christ, I have a heart problem. If I cheat the church out of regular giving by pleading about my ‘cash flow’ while ignoring the fact that the church has the same bills and the same ‘cash flow’, I have a heart problem.”’ (Sermon Reflections by Peter Howell-Jones, Vice Dean Chester Cathedral)

The New Testament scholar Tom Wright identifies this heart problem with a call to a transformation of character. He writes that ‘Jesus is challenging the young man to a transformation of character.’ It is worth our while staying with this idea and the way Tom Wright unpacks it in relation to this encounter:

‘The young man has come wanting fulfilment. He wants his life to be complete—complete in the present, so it can be complete in the future. He knows he is still “lacking” something, and he is looking for a goal, a completion. Jesus suggests he needs turning inside out. His life is to become part of a larger, outward-looking purpose: he is to put God’s Kingdom first, and put his neighbour (especially his poor neighbour) before his own fulfilment and prospects. Here is the real challenge: not just to add one or two more commandments, to set the moral bar a little higher, but to become a different sort of person altogether.

Jesus is challenging the young man to a transformation of character.

And the young man isn’t up for it. He turns and goes away, sad. Here is the gap between theory and reality, between command and performance. Jesus has told him how to behave, but the young man doesn’t know how to do it. The question hangs, disturbingly, over the rest of the Gospel story. What is the path to God’s new age, to the new time when God’s Kingdom will flood the world with justice and peace? How are we to be the sort of people who not only inherit that world but actually join in right now to help make it happen?

But what we notice in Mark 10 is something which seems to operate in a different dimension. For a start, it is a call, not to specific acts of behaviour, but to a type of character. For another thing, it is a call to see oneself as having a role to play within a story—and a story where there is one supreme Character whose life is to be followed. And that Character seems to have His eye on a goal, and to be shaping His own life, and those of His followers, in relation to that goal.

All of this suggests that Mark’s gospel, with Jesus Himself as the great Character who stands behind it, is inviting us to something not so much like rule-keeping on the one hand or following our own dreams on the other, but a way of being human to which philosophers ancient and modern have given a particular name. My contention is that the New Testament invites its readers to learn how to be human in this particular way, which will both inform our moral judgments and form our characters so we can live by their guidance. The name for this way of being human, this kind of transformation of character, is virtue.

What does it mean to be virtuous?

The dynamic of “virtue,” in this sense—practicing the habits of heart and life that point toward the true goal of human existence—lies at the heart of the challenge of Christian behaviour, as set out in the New Testament itself. This is what it means to develop “character.” This is what we need—and what the Christian faith offers—for the time, “after you believe.”

When we approach things from this angle, we are in for some surprises. A great many Christians, in my experience, never think of things this way, and so get themselves in all kinds of confusion. Virtue, to put it bluntly, is a revolutionary idea in today’s world—and today’s church. But the revolution is one we badly need. And it is right at the core of the answer to the questions with which we began. After you believe, you need to develop Christian character by practicing the specifically Christian “virtues.” To make wise moral decisions, you need not just to “know the rules” or “discover who you really are,” but to develop Christian virtue. And to give wise leadership in our wider society in the confusing times we live in, we urgently need people whose characters have been formed in much the same way. We’ve had enough of pragmatists and self-seeking risk-takers. We need people of character.’

The fundamental answer to the question what is supposed to happen “after you believe” is that ‘what we’re “here for” is to become genuine human beings, reflecting the God in whose image we’re made, and doing so in worship on the one hand and in mission, in its full and large sense, on the other; and that we do this not least by “following Jesus.” The way this works out is that it produces, through the work of the Holy Spirit, a transformation of character.

This transformation will mean that we do indeed “keep the rules”—though not out of a sense of externally imposed “duty,” but out of the character that has been formed within us. And it will mean that we do indeed “follow our hearts” and live “authentically”—but only when, with that transformed character fully operative, the hard work up front bears fruit in spontaneous decisions and actions that reflect what has been formed deep within. And, in the wider world, the challenge we face is to grow and develop a fresh generation of leaders, in all walks of life, whose character has been formed in wisdom and public service, not in greed for money or power.’

So, Jesus’ challenge here is not simply about our use of money or about our own stewardship - should we give five per cent, ten per cent, or twenty per cent or everything (as with the Rich Young Ruler) – but about developing a generous heart and a generous lifestyle that will open doors for other people in need. It is about becoming like Jesus, who laid down his own life that others might truly live. May it be so for each one of us. Amen.

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Pink Floyd - Money.

Sunday, 21 January 2024

The water of our lives and our communities can become wine

Here's the sermon I shared at St Andrew’s Wickford this morning:

The writer of John’s Gospel says that this miracle is the first that Jesus performed but the word used for first also means that it is the key miracle, the one that unlocks and explains all the others (John 2: 1 – 11). So, we need to ask ourselves what it is that we learn from this miracle that helps us to understand more fully what Jesus was doing through his ministry, death and resurrection.

The miracle is one of transformation; water being transformed into wine with this transformation bringing joy to the wedding guests. Fyodor Dostoevsky, in The Brother’s Karamasov, sees this miracle’s significance in the joy that Jesus brings to ordinary people: “It was not grief but men’s gladness that Jesus extolled when he worked his first miracle – he helped people to be happy … his heart was open … to the simple and artless joys of ignorant human beings, ignorant but not cunning, who had warmly bidden him to their poor wedding.” Later in John’s Gospel Jesus speaks himself about having come to bring life in all its fullness which must include this sense of joy and gladness in life. The filling of the water jars to the full also speaks of this sense of life being filled with goodness and gladness.

In Luke 6: 38 Jesus speaks again about fullness. Here he links our fullness to our giving: “Give to others, and God will give to you. Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured out into your hands – all that you can hold.” This emphasis is important because the transformation of water into wine suggests that Jesus does not simply bless human life as it is but comes to transform it.

Water is essential to life. The human body is 75% water and needs a constant supply of water to function. The average person can only survive for about three days without any water at all. So, water is a basic need for all of us and speaks to us of the basic needs that we all need to be fulfilled in order that we can live and live comfortably.

But God wants something better for us than a life based just on the meeting of our basic needs and the turning of water into wine gives us a clue as to what that better thing is. Wine reminds us of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. That moment when, out of love for all people, he lays down his own life in order to save us from all that is wrong with our lives and our world. So, wine is a reminder to us of the fact that the greatest love is shown through sacrifice.

This is the transformation that Jesus seeks to bring to human life. It is a change from human existence to human life; a change from the selfish experience of meeting our own basic needs to the spiritual experience of sharing what we have will others; a change from the evolutionary imperative of the survival of the fittest to the Christian imperative of sacrificial love.

This transformation is something that we seek to show and need to show in our churches, which is in part why we have this new exhibition in church by Maciej Hoffman. Maciej chooses “themes that pervade everyday life, our constant battle with problems which we inevitably face … issues which haunt us for years, shaping our perspective on the world and building us as humans”. He seeks: “contrasts between imagination and reality. Our expectations and our anticipations are never what we finally meet in real life … whether it’s beauty and ugliness, order or chaos - the point is, how it’s reflected in the mirror of my interpretation … I am moved by people’s stories with all their misfortunes and moments of happiness. It seems like one is always part of the other.” This is our everyday experience that Jesus comes to transform.

This transformation is also symbolised in the pouring out of the wine from the water jars. It may even be that this is the moment of transformation; just as what is drawn from the water jars to be shared with others is wine so, as we give to others, we are transformed from selfish to sacrificial. It may be that it is in the act of giving that our transformation comes. That is also why, alongside Maciej’s exhibition, we are unveiled David Folley’s descent from the cross, which shows us the reality of the suffering that was entailed in the ultimate sacrifice made for us on the cross by Christ.

Finally, there is significance in the reference to the role of the water jars in ritual washing. The water jars can be seen as signifying the Jewish faith that requires such ritual cleansing but from those jars and from that faith comes a new wine that must be poured out and shared with others. The new wine is for all; not just for the first but kept for the last as well. Wine symbolises the blood of Christ which is shed for all. God’s grace is no longer contained solely within the confines of the Jewish faith; coming to God no longer requires the meeting of the standards of the Law. This new wine bursts the old skins and is shared with all people of every nation, race, gender, age and sexuality.

So, we see depicted a change from the old order, the old covenant, to the new. And this change extends the transformation to all. What is depicted then is not solely a change for us as individuals but a societal change no longer affecting one nation but all nations. What is depicted is a new way of life, a new way of being human, which can, perhaps, be summed up in the words of John 15: 13, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends”. He looks at all of us, at all human beings, and says, “You are my friends”. Jesus allowed his own life to end so that all people could know what it is like to really live.

In 21st century Britain we live in a culture that is parched and dry and desperately in need of the water of life. I still remember a Guardian article outlining reasons why kindness has gone out of fashion in the age of the free market and the selfish gene. The writers noted that “for most of western history the dominant tradition of kindness has been Christianity” which “functioned as a cultural cement, binding individuals into society” until “the Christian rule ‘love thy neighbour as thyself’ came under increasing attack from competitive individualism.” Our society is parched of kindness and we need Jesus to bring transformation.

In Isaiah we read: “The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.” (Isaiah 41. 17 & 18)

Jesus is the river that flows in the desert of our selfish, self-centred existence because he shows us how to live in his new way of being human, loving God with all our being and loving our neighbours as ourselves. God wants us to look at Jesus and see how human life was originally intended to be lived before we chose the path of self-centredness. It is when we look at Jesus and begin to live life his way that transformation comes in our lives and our world. The water of our lives and our communities can become wine. May it be so for us. Amen.

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Judee Sill - The Donor.

Wednesday, 5 June 2019

Waterloo Festival & The London Group

The Waterloo Festival is an annual celebration in June of arts, community and heritage in the artistic heart of London. It aims to bring together local communities, the wider audience of London and world-class professionals to create new work, discover new connections and to be a source of hope and transformation. It builds on and draws inspiration from Waterloo’s rich history and its unique position on the Southbank fringe. The programme varies from orchestral concerts to contemporary music, from poetry to singing, from walks and green activities to outdoor sculpture exhibitions and discussions on social issues.

This year’s theme, ‘Transforming Being’, continues the Festival's five-year journey of transformation, diving deep into the synergies between well-being and creativity. It’s all about connecting people and ideas.

The London Group have organised three exhibitions for the Waterloo Festival: COMING GOOD, sculpture; METAMORPHOSIS, photography and SELF-SERVICE, artists’ moving image. These three shows offer the opportunity to showcase the diversity of members’ practices.

COMING GOOD: Come Hell or High Water
Sculpture

Date: 06 – 23 June 2019 / open daily
Preview: 05 June 2019 / 6 – 9 pm
Location: St. John’s Churchyard, 73 Waterloo Rd, South Bank, London SE1 8TY

Artists’ Talk: 17 June, throughout the afternoon from 2 pm
FREE

As we navigate a changing world with constantly shifting boundaries, we need to take on board new possibilities on all levels: physical, psychological and spiritual.

The London Group and Friends present an outdoor exhibition of art works from around 20 international artists. The show explores the process of transformation; be that of matter, ideas or self-perception. Questions of how we interact with nature and our environment, with each other and with our egos will come alive with this feast of art in the spacious gardens of St John’s Waterloo. Artists are responding to the challenge of dousing hell with high water and having fun along the way. You might walk past a milk teeth ‘Scream’ by Paul Tecklenberg or get entangled in Jane Eyton’s jellyfish; you may look into Clive Burton’s eternity hole in the ground or be puzzled by Vanya Balogh’s interactive performances. David Redfern recycles the cross and some mysterious old resin cups have made their way from a Polish forest.

Curated by London Group members Almuth Tebbenhoff and Cadi Froehlich

Exhibiting artists include: James Roseveare, Jane Eyton, Vanya Balogh LG, Keith Ball, Natalia-Zagorska-Thomas, William Watson, Elzbieta Smolenska, Angela Wright, Paul Tecklenberg LG, Clare Burnett, Clive Burton LG, Alex Harley LG, Aude Hérail Jäger LG, David Redfern LG, Sumi Perera LG, Carol Wyss LG, Rebecca Feiner, Heather Burrells, Tommy Seaward LG, Graham Tunnardine, Almuth Tebbenhoff LG, Cadi Froehlich LG …

METAMORPHOSIS
Photography

Date: 08 – 20 June / daily 2pm- 6pm
Location: The Cello Factory, 33-34 Cornwall Rd, London SE1 8TJ
FREE
Preview: Mon 10 June, 6-9pm
Artists’ talk: Mon 17 June, 7pm.
Q&A with Farah Mohammoud & Catherine Dormor: Thurs 20 June, 7pm.

Metamorphosis can mean the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly or in Kafka’s case from man into an insect. This show features diptychs by 17 international photographers. Pairs of images are hung side by side or one above the other, each depicts a process of binary change and transformation such as absent/present, before/after, motion/static, positive/negative, light/dark and so on. The juxtaposition between one image and the other can be subtle or radical, either way provoking the viewer to create a narrative between the two.

Curated by London Group members Paul Tecklenberg and Darren Nisbett

Exhibiting artists include: Carol Wyss LG, Carl Wilson, David Theobald LG, Paul Tecklenberg LG, Simon Reed LG, Darren Nisbett LG, Charlotte C Mortensson LG, Genetic Moo LG, Sam Jarman LG, Vaughan Grylls LG, Jane Humphrey LG, Susan Haire LG, Eric Fong LG, Angela Eames LG, Andrew Cooper, Stephen Carley LG and Vanya Balogh LG.

SELF-SERVICE
Artists’ Moving Image

Date: 10 – 16 June 2019 / daily Mon-Sat 1-6pm, Sun 12-4pm
Location: Old Crypt, St. John’s Church, 73 Waterloo Rd, South Bank, London SE1 8TY
FREE
Preview: Wed 12 June, 6-9pm

“The age of automation will be the age of do it yourself”, Marshall McLuhan

More and more we are being asked to do things ourselves. From shopping to car insurance, services that traditionally required a human representative have been redesigned so that customers complete their business interacting only with machines. Some might argue this gives us more flexibility and choice and while others see us all becoming unpaid employees, required to do the work in order to access what we need. Taking its lead from the check-out counters of supermarkets and petrol station forecourts, this exhibition brings together moving image works that respond to this idea of ‘self-service’. Works were contributed by members of the London Group, invited artists and artists chosen from an open call in response to the title.

Curated by London Group members David Theobald and Genetic Moo

Exhibiting artists: Katerina Athanasopoulou, Stephen Carley LG, Sandra Crisp LG, Vardit Goldner, Geeske Janßen, Helena Klakocar, Daniel McKee, Micheál O’Connell/MOCKSIM LG, Genetic Moo LG, Charlotte C Mortensson LG, Svetlana Ochkovskaya, Piotr Piasta, Duncan Poulton, Sue Ridge, James Rosamond, Eric Schockmel, Alcaeus Spyrou, David Theobald LG.

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Southbank Sinfonia - Beethoven's Symphony No.5.

Thursday, 11 January 2018

Light Come Shining: The Transformations of Bob Dylan

In Light Come Shining: The Transformations of Bob Dylan (Oxford University Press) Andrew McCarron:

'deems major turning points in the songwriter’s life and career: his 1966 motorcycle accident, his mid-1970s conversion to Christianity, and his newfound creative spark in the late 1980s. All three, argues the author, are manifestations of a consistent “script” in which Dylan confronts his fear of death, becomes transfigured, and channels that transfiguration in new ways into his music. In coming to these conclusions, McCarron had no assistance from Dylan himself or those close to him; this work of “psychobiography” is based solely on a close study of Dylan’s interviews, writing, and performances. Though the author’s discussion of psychobiology is often leaden, overall the book is an insightful and often persuasive work, particularly in how spiritual themes (especially apocalyptic ones) persist in Dylan’s music. (Counter to the assumption that Dylan cast off his Christianity sometime in the early 1980s, McCarron finds plenty of evidence that the faith still matters to him.) Beyond Dylan’s music career, McCarron also explores the influence of his Jewish background, his growing up during the Cold War, and his upbringing in rural Minnesota as playing essential roles in his story.' (Kirkus Review)

Richie Unterberger writes that:

'The book is most persuasive when examining how spiritual themes, quite often of an apocalyptic nature, persist in Dylan’s music. For instance, McCarron finds that Dylan’s conversion to Christianity and a kind of fundamentalist gospel-rock that mystified and angered many of his longtime fans can be understood as “a meta-narrative of death and redemptive change that found relatively easy expression in the Christian stories and symbols that Dylan embraced as he approached the age of forty.” And although Dylan eased off on his hard-line Christianity within a few years, McCarron finds evidence that the faith still matters to him, and that elements of the language associated with his religious fervor linger in his music.'

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Bob Dylan - Pressing On.

Monday, 1 January 2018

Artlyst article: Can art transform society?

My latest article for Artlyst explores whether art can transform society by considering two current exhibitions that seem to suggest that it can. The exhibitions are:

Nature Morte at the Guildhall Art Gallery which explores both the history of the still life and contemporary applications to invite viewers to pause, look anew at the human condition, and confront what it means to be human; and
Coming Out: Sexuality, Gender & Identity, at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, which explores the contribution of art to documented change in relation to social attitudes towards the LGBT+ community.

My article suggests that art can enable us to see the world differently, offering insights into personal experiences beyond our own but that this transformative power of art is fully unleashed when we understand the histories, stories and traditions (both recent and past) on which the artworks draw.

My other Artlyst articles are:

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Tom Morello & The Nightwatchman - Blind Willie McTell.

Saturday, 13 May 2017

Terrence Ffyffe: Transformation

Artist Terrence Ffyffe presents a series of spectacular new ‘Cosmic’ paintings alongside a number of large dramatic religious works depicting the Passion of Christ, at St Stephen Walbrook (by Bank Station) EC4N 8BN, from 15th May - 9th June 2017. All are welcome to view these spectacular works at the Private View for the exhibition on 15th May from 6.30pm. Pianist Michael Homer will perform during the Private View, while Terrence Ffyffe, art critic Edward Lucie Smith and myself will all reflect briefly on the artworks.

As with his highly successful first show of ‘Cosmic’ paintings ‘Painting the Light’ in 2016, this exhibition entitled ‘Transformation’ brings the worlds of Quantum physics, Mathematics and Mystical Spirituality together in a new series of stunningly beautiful oil paintings. From his daily practise of meditation, which he describes as ‘a space journey to the source’, the lights, colours and shapes he sees mirror the images of Galaxies and Nebulas from the Hubble Telescope and the hidden world of atoms, cells and amoebas as revealed through the Electron Microscope. Ffyffe says “The amazing bio morphic patterns seen at all levels in nature demonstrate the oneness of all creation”. Terrence has found a way to create the patterns as blueprints and then with his skills as a figurative painter develop them into sumptuous paintings revealing a new form of beauty and a new vision of reality.

The exhibition coincides with the Feast of Pentecost, celebrating the ‘Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles’, an event that transformed them from cowering in fear to boldly proclaiming the “Good News”.

Ffyffe formerly a figurative painter in the classic tradition had a “transformation” experience himself and is now firmly established in his new direction of depicting the beauty of the hidden world of nature and the inner world of the mind”. The exhibition brings together the last works that Ffyffe was working on before this profound change. He says, ”The early paintings are about the Historical Jesus and the New Paintings are about the Holy Spirit”.

Terrance Ffyffe is a visionary artist and as the eminent art critic Edward Lucie-Smith wrote on seeing the New Works for the first time “Wow!”: "Every now and then even a hardened old lag in the art business - yes folks, I mean me - gets a nice surprise … Terry Ffyffe-asked me to come and look at a new series of paintings … and my reaction was 'Wow!' … These were whirling, dynamic abstract designs - a total break with anything major of his that I had encountered previously”.

Terrence Ffyffe says: “Art should inspire the viewer, ideally raise the consciousness and elevate the mind to think of higher things like the beauty and mystery of the natural world, to contemplate the deep questions as to purpose and meaning, like ‘What is the origin of this life? What is Reality? Questions that have no easy answer but require a personal journey of developing awareness.”

Terrence Ffyffe was born in Melbourne, Australia. He studied at Swineburne University under Jeffrey Makin and Roger Kemp. After living the bohemian life of a painter in Carlton, extensive travels in the Australian Outback and several solo shows he came to England to study the “Old Masters” of European Painting at first hand. Unknown in the UK he painted portraits to support himself while he developed his uniquely expressive style. He eventually came to the attention of the art critics Edward Lucie-Smith and the late Daniel Farson who introduced him to the world of Francis Bacon and the “London school”. He has won a number of National Competitions including the Discerning Eye. David Lee, the fierce art critic and editor of the Jackdaw has said “Terrence Ffyffe will in time prove to be a Great Painter”.

St Stephen Walbrook hosts a regular programme of contemporary art exhibitions. We partner either with established art societies (such as the National Society of Painters, Sculptors & Printmakers or the Society of Catholic Artists) or significant art historian such Edward Lucie-Smith. In 2016 our programme featured work by the Stuckist artist Joe Machine, artist-priest Alan Everett, Brazilian artist Kim Poor, a digital installation by Michael Takeo Magruder, and group shows by the National Society and commission4mission. For 2017 we have planned an exhibition of crucifixion drawings by Francis Bacon, solo shows by Hannah Thomas, Regan O'Callaghan and Alexander de Cadenet, a digital residency by Daniel Bourke, and a Holy Saturday Night Vigil with the digital artwork of Mark Dean.

St Stephen Walbrook, while being a neo-Classical masterpiece, has, by acquiring a modern altar by Henry Moore complemented by a circular re-ordering and further commissions from Patrick Heron, Hans Coper and Andrew Varah, become a space which stands at the heart of the story of connections between the worlds of modern art and Christianity. The church also contains significant woodwork and carving by William Newman which provides a spatial frame and backdrop to the regular programme of contemporary art exhibitions that the church hosts. All of which makes St Stephen Walbrook a significant and special venue in which to view art.

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Scott Stapp - New Day Coming.

Friday, 12 May 2017

St Stephen Walbrook: Summer Newsletter

The Summer Newsletter for St Stephen Walbrook is now available through the new church website. Click here to view. This edition includes:

New church website
Summer Term Services & Events
Transformation exhibition
Art exhibition programme 2017 / The Lord Mayor’s St Stephen’s Serenades
Stations2017 / The Art of Faith City Walk
Spring, Lent & Easter 2017 events
HeartEdge launch / Start:Stop seminar
London Internet Church / Using St Stephen Walbrook / Music at St Stephen Walbrook

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Thomas Tallis - O Nata Lux.

Saturday, 6 May 2017

Private View: ‘Transformation’

Artist Terrence Ffyffe presents a series of spectacular new ‘Cosmic’ paintings alongside a number of large dramatic religious works depicting the Passion of Christ, at St Stephen Walbrook (by Bank Station) EC4N 8BN, from 15th May - 9th June 2017. All are welcome to view these spectacular works at the Private View for the exhibition on 15th May from 6.30pm.

As with his highly successful first show of ‘Cosmic’ paintings ‘Painting the Light’ in 2016, this exhibition entitled ‘Transformation’ brings the worlds of Quantum physics, Mathematics and Mystical Spirituality together in a new series of stunningly beautiful oil paintings. From his daily practise of meditation, which he describes as ‘a space journey to the source’, the lights, colours and shapes he sees mirror the images of Galaxies and Nebulas from the Hubble Telescope and the hidden world of atoms, cells and amoebas as revealed through the Electron Microscope. Ffyffe says “The amazing bio morphic patterns seen at all levels in nature demonstrate the oneness of all creation”. Terrence has found a way to create the patterns as blueprints and then with his skills as a figurative painter develop them into sumptuous paintings revealing a new form of beauty and a new vision of reality.

The exhibition coincides with the Feast of Pentecost, celebrating the ‘Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles’, an event that transformed them from cowering in fear to boldly proclaiming the “Good News”.

Ffyffe formerly a figurative painter in the classic tradition had a “transformation” experience himself and is now firmly established in his new direction of depicting the beauty of the hidden world of nature and the inner world of the mind”. The exhibition brings together the last works that Ffyffe was working on before this profound change. He says, ”The early paintings are about the Historical Jesus and the New Paintings are about the Holy Spirit”.

Terrance Ffyffe is a visionary artist and as the eminent art critic Edward Lucie-Smith wrote on seeing the New Works for the first time “Wow!”: "Every now and then even a hardened old lag in the art business - yes folks, I mean me - gets a nice surprise … Terry Ffyffe-asked me to come and look at a new series of paintings … and my reaction was 'Wow!' … These were whirling, dynamic abstract designs - a total break with anything major of his that I had encountered previously”.

Terrence Ffyffe says: “Art should inspire the viewer, ideally raise the consciousness and elevate the mind to think of higher things like the beauty and mystery of the natural world, to contemplate the deep questions as to purpose and meaning, like ‘What is the origin of this life? What is Reality? Questions that have no easy answer but require a personal journey of developing awareness.”

Terrence Ffyffe was born in Melbourne, Australia. He studied at Swineburne University under Jeffrey Makin and Roger Kemp. After living the bohemian life of a painter in Carlton, extensive travels in the Australian Outback and several solo shows he came to England to study the “Old Masters” of European Painting at first hand. Unknown in the UK he painted portraits to support himself while he developed his uniquely expressive style. He eventually came to the attention of the art critics Edward Lucie-Smith and the late Daniel Farson who introduced him to the world of Francis Bacon and the “London school”. He has won a number of National Competitions including the Discerning Eye. David Lee, the fierce art critic and editor of the Jackdaw has said “Terrence Ffyffe will in time prove to be a Great Painter”.

St Stephen Walbrook hosts a regular programme of contemporary art exhibitions. We partner either with established art societies (such as the National Society of Painters, Sculptors & Printmakers or the Society of Catholic Artists) or significant art historian such Edward Lucie-Smith. In 2016 our programme featured work by the Stuckist artist Joe Machine, artist-priest Alan Everett, Brazilian artist Kim Poor, a digital installation by Michael Takeo Magruder, and group shows by the National Society and commission4mission. For 2017 we have planned an exhibition of crucifixion drawings by Francis Bacon, solo shows by Hannah Thomas, Regan O'Callaghan and Alexander de Cadenet, a digital residency by Daniel Bourke, and a Holy Saturday Night Vigil with the digital artwork of Mark Dean.

St Stephen Walbrook, while being a neo-Classical masterpiece, has, by acquiring a modern altar by Henry Moore complemented by a circular re-ordering and further commissions from Patrick Heron, Hans Coper and Andrew Varah, become a space which stands at the heart of the story of connections between the worlds of modern art and Christianity. The church also contains significant woodwork and carving by William Newman which provides a spatial frame and backdrop to the regular programme of contemporary art exhibitions that the church hosts. All of which makes St Stephen Walbrook a significant and special venue in which to view art.

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Eric Whitacre - Fly To Paradise.