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Monday, 2 February 2026

Artlyst: The Art Diary February 2026

For the February 2026 Art Diary for Artlyst begins with the contrasts of light (Lakwena Maciver) and dark (Tracey Emin), before highlighting exhibitions at the National Gallery, Auckland Castle, St Andrew’s Wickford, St Peter’s Nottingham, and Elizabeth Xi Bauer that explore these themes in relation to spirituality. A further series of exhibitions featuring the Quilters of Gee’s Bend, Titus Kaphar, and Yinka Shonibare explores aspects of black culture and heritage. Exhibitions at Studio Voltaire, Wimbledon Museum, Dorchester Museum & Art Gallery and Chappel Galleries examine the poetics of everyday actions, while exhibitions featuring work by Sean Scully, Leiko Ikemura, Yona Verwer, Brian Whelan, and Hady Boraey explore the relationship between human beings and the natural world.

For more on Lakwena see here, here and here, on Roger Wagner see here and here, on David Sowerby see here, on Jean Lamb see here, on the Quilter's of Gee's Bend see here, here and here, on Titus Kaphar see here, on Sean Scully see here and here, on Brian Whelan see here.

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -

Monthly diary articles -

Articles/Reviews -

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Raphael Ravenscroft & Tenebrae - Forgiveness.

Thursday, 19 December 2024

Models of inculturation celebrated in art

My latest interview for ArtWay is with Paul Chandler of Caravan and artist Brian Whelan about WHITE ROBE: An exhibition celebrating the life of Rev. Dr. John Roberts among Native Americans. John Roberts was a Welsh Episcopal/Anglican priest who served on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming from 1883-1949. His ministry stands as an exemplary model of inculturation, as he honoured indigenous Native American spirituality and embraced their culture and languages.

Working in narrative series in the way that Whelan has done has synergies with the work of Greg Tricker (series on Anne Frank, Francis of Assisi, Joan of Arc, etc.) and murals about Brother Joseph Dutton that André Girard painted for Blessed Sacrament Church at Stowe in Vermont. Chandler is familiar with Girard’s paintings and windows that commemorate the influential ministry of Dutton in Hawaii and sees similarities with Roberts, as both “tell a story of remarkable servants, whose examples have much to teach us today.”

Girard was a multi-faceted artist and creative individual who was not only an internationally-renowned painter, but a film and television innovator, a printer of fine books, a French Resistance fighter, a writer, a lecturer, a stage-designer, and educator (see my ArtWay article on Girard for more information). When he visited Blessed Sacrament Church at Stowe in 1949 to install his paintings of the Way of the Cross, he saw the empty space with only an altar and a crucifix and became inspired to meet the challenge of creating an entire atmosphere of sacred space within the church through his own creative vision.

The continuous row of 36 windows surrounding the uppermost level of the church provided the perfect opportunity for him to utilize his technique of painting on light. Upon hearing of the humanitarian efforts of Brother Joseph Dutton, he was inspired to paint highlights of his life in Molokai on large-scaled murals on the outer walls of the church so that people could visually experience his life of sacrifice and dedication.

Brother Dutton felt drawn to his service at the leper colony on the island of Molokai, after hearing of the ministry there of Father Damien, who had built homes, an orphanage, and churches there and, as a result, contracted leprosy himself. At the age of forty, Dutton had a spiritual transformation and found a deeper purpose in his life by going to Molokai to help Father Damien in his mission of caring for the lepers. Following the death of Father Damien, the responsibility of directing the entire settlement fell to Brother Dutton. Dutton not only initiated many building projects but also made the residents realize they were part of a community, and with some training could help build each others’ houses, grow crops, and raise chickens to help feed their families. He also used his letter-writing skills to communicate with people all over the world to bring attention to the needs of his flock.

Another series of paintings celebrating an example of inculturation among indigenous peoples is DeGrazia and Padre Kino by Ettore “Ted” DeGrazia at the Mission in the Sun in Tucson, US.

In 1687, Padre Eusebio Kino arrived in northern Mexico on horseback traveling into what is now Arizona. Padre Kino explored the vast lands of Arizona and California, making friends with the Native Americans whom he encountered as he mapped the region. Unfortunately, with him also came the soldiers of the King of Spain, who brought guns and swords, while the gentle priest brought a simple cross to introduce Christianity without destroying the native cultures. He told them stories of Christ and the Bible, introduced them to Christian ceremonies, and together they built 24 missions in 24 years that stretched from Sonora, Mexico, to Southern Arizona. San Xavier del Bac, also known as the “White Dove of the Desert,” is one of the most impressive of those missions. It is located just southwest of Tucson.

DeGrazia was inspired by the memorable events in the life and times of Padre Kino, the heroic, historic and immortal priest-colonizer of the Southwestern desert. Since childhood, DeGrazia admired Padre Kino for his education, life of adventure, and respect for Native Americans. DeGrazia traveled to every Kino mission as he lovingly studied the life of his favorite Jesuit priest. The Mission in the Sun is dedicated to his memory.

Nancy Wiechec writes that: "DeGrazia died in 1982. Among his tens of thousands of surviving works are the Way of the Cross; multiple depictions of Our Lady of Guadalupe; a series on Jesuit Father Eusebio Kino, a missionary to the Southwest; and a mission, which the artist designed, built and dedicated to Father Kino.

“I don’t know how many religious paintings he did, but he did a pretty good share,” said Lance Laber, executive director of the DeGrazia Foundation, the organization DeGrazia founded to preserve his art.

According to Laber, DeGrazia’s Catholic heritage, the faith and spirituality of the Indians he befriended and his admiration of Father Kino were inspirations for his religious works.”

These works began after a priest "approached DeGrazia about painting the Stations of the Cross for the St. Thomas More Catholic Newman Center at the University of Arizona." DeGrazia "fulfilled the request in 1964."

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Lone Justice - Wade In The Water.

Wednesday, 27 November 2024

Paul Chandler and Brian Whelan - WHITE ROBE: An exhibition celebrating the life of Rev. Dr John Roberts among Native Americans

My latest interview for ArtWay is with Paul Chandler of Caravan and artist Brian Whelan about WHITE ROBE: An exhibition celebrating the life of Rev. Dr John Roberts among Native Americans:

'Chandler thinks “that artists can lead the way today” and “are more needed than ever”: “Artists provide new pathways of understanding that transcend borders and how we see the ‘other’. Brian Whelan is a brilliant example of someone whose creative gift does this. His focus on the lives of remarkable individuals of faith, whether it be Rev. John Roberts or someone else, enables people to be captivated by their stories, which is one of the most effective means of communicating.”'

See here to read my Artlyst interview with Paul Chandler.

ArtWay.eu has been hailed "a jewel in the crown of work in Christianity and the arts," and having come under the custodianship of the Kirby Laing Centre, the much-loved publication is entering an exciting new chapter in its story with the launch of a new website in September.

Since its founding, ArtWay has published a rich library of materials and resources for scholars, artists, art enthusiasts and congregations concerned about linking art and faith. Founded by Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker in 2009, ArtWay's significance is reflected in its designation as UNESCO digital heritage material in the Netherlands.

In the video above, the ArtWay team recounts the history of this much-loved resource and looks ahead to an exciting future for ArtWay.

Back in 2018, I interviewed ArtWay founder Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker for Artlyst on the legacy of ArtWay itself. I have written frequently for the site with a recent piece being an interview with British artist Hannah Rose Thomas, who is also an author, human rights activist and a UNESCO PhD Scholar at the University of Glasgow.

My visual meditations for ArtWay include work by María Inés Aguirre, Giampaolo Babetto, Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Alexander de Cadenet, Christopher Clack, Marlene Dumas, Terry Ffyffe, Jake Flood, Antoni Gaudi, Nicola Green, Maciej Hoffman, Gwen John, Lakwena Maciver, S. Billie Mandle, Giacomo Manzù, Sidney Nolan, Michael Pendry, Maurice Novarina, Regan O'Callaghan, Ana Maria Pacheco, John Piper, Nicola Ravenscroft, Albert Servaes, Henry Sh elton, Anna Sikorska, Alan Stewart, Jan Toorop, Andrew Vessey, Edmund de Waal and Sane Wadu.

My Church of the Month reports include: All Saints Parish Church, Tudeley, Aylesford Priory, Canterbury Cathedral, Chapel of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, Hem, Chelmsford Cathedral, Churches in Little Walsi ngham, Coventry Cathedral, Église de Saint-Paul à Grange-Canal, Eton College Chapel, Lumen, Metz Cathedral, Notre Dame du Léman, Notre-Dame de Toute Grâce, Plateau d’Assy,R omont, Sint Martinuskerk Latem, St Aidan of Lindisfarne, St Alban Romford, St. Andrew Bobola Polish RC Church, St. Margaret’s Church, Ditchling, and Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, St Mary the Virgin, Downe, St Michael and All Angels Berwick and St Pa ul Goodmayes, as well as earlier reports of visits to sites associated with Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Marc Chagall, Jean Cocteau, Antoni Gaudi and Hen r i Matisse.

Blogs for ArtWay include: Congruity and controversy: exploring issues for contemporary commissions; Ervin Bossanyi: A vision for unity and harmony; Georges Rouault and André Girard: Crucifixion and Resurrection, Penitence and Life Anew; Photographing Religious Practice; Spirituality and/in Modern Art; and The Spirituality of the Artist-Clown.

Interviews for ArtWay include: Matthew Askey, Sophie Hacker, Peter Koenig, David Miller, Belinda Scarlett and Hannah Rose Thomas.

I have also reviewed: Art and the Church: A Fractious Embrace, Kempe: The Life, Art and Legacy of Charles Eamer Kempe and Jazz, Blues, and Spirituals for ArtWay.

Other of my writings for ArtWay can be found here.

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Michael Kiwanuka - One And Only.

Sunday, 4 November 2012

The Holy City of vision and imagination

I’m starting with two things that I’ve seen this week. The first is the rather portly, ungainly and garish giant illuminated peace dove on a 10ft pole surrounded by symbols of world religions that is currently outside Seven Kings Station. The multi-faith lights have been chosen by Seven Kings and Goodmayes councillors to celebrate all the religious festivals between now and Twelfth Night, including Eid-Ul-Adha, Diwali, the birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Sahib, Christmas and Hanukkah.

The second is a painting entitled ‘Holy City’ by Brian Whelan which I saw when I was at St Martin-in-the-Fields for a meeting earlier in the week. The first of his ‘Holy City’ paintings resulted from a discussion in a community art workshop about the ‘Holy City’. One participant had been to Jerusalem but it was not her memories of the actual Jerusalem that the group used to create their ‘Holy City’ painting, instead, they created the Holy City, not as remembered, but as imagined!

‘Freed from the encumbrance of memory they were able to create a city which was vibrant in every manner of diversity. Church nestled into the side of mosque [and synagogue], contrary shapes yielding to one another, colors bright and radiant as no building committee would have ever allowed, all flowed from [their] hands as they playfully built their city on the foundation of silver and gold candy wrappers, which are a distinctive element of Brian Whelan’s work.’

The member of the group who had been to Jerusalem said that “The Holy City she had experienced did not look anything like the artwork” the group were making. What they made was ‘a city that looks nothing like what we have ever seen, but is exactly that … which we have longed to discover.’

In Isaiah 25. 6 – 8, we read: ‘Here on Mount Zion [in other words, in the Holy City, Jerusalem] the Lord Almighty will prepare a banquet for all the nations of the world — a banquet of the richest food and the finest wine. Here he will suddenly remove the cloud of sorrow that has been hanging over all the nations. The Sovereign Lord will destroy death forever! He will wipe away the tears from everyone's eyes and take away the disgrace his people have suffered throughout the world.’

These verses are part of a series of prophecies in the Book of Isaiah setting out a vision of a time when the Holy City, Jerusalem, will be a focus for healing, reconciliation and peace. So, for example, in Isaiah 2. 2 – 4 we read:

‘In days to come

  the mountain where the Temple stands
    will be the highest one of all,
    towering above all the hills.
Many nations will come streaming to it,
    and their people will say,
“Let us go up the hill of the Lord,
    to the Temple of Israel's God.
He will teach us what he wants us to do;
    we will walk in the paths he has chosen.
For the Lord's teaching comes from Jerusalem;
    from Zion he speaks to his people.”

He will settle disputes among great nations.
They will hammer their swords into ploughs
and their spears into pruning knives.
Nations will never again go to war,
never prepare for battle again.’

These visions then connect with the final book of our Bible, the vision given to St John, which we call Revelation. There we read (in Revelation 21 and 22):

‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth disappeared, and the sea vanished. And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband. I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: “Now God's home is with people! He will live with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared.”

Then the one who sits on the throne said, “And now I make all things new!” …

The angel also showed me the river of the water of life, sparkling like crystal, and coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb

and flowing down the middle of the city's street. On each side of the river was the tree of life, which bears fruit twelve times a year, once each month; and its leaves are for the healing of the nations.’

In these visions the Holy City, Jerusalem, is the place where disputes are settled between the nations, where swords and spears are reshaped and reused as tools for growth instead of death, where even the leaves of the trees bring healing to nations, where there is no more death, no more grief or crying or pain, where reconciled peoples of all nations sit together the richest of banquets.

The person who had been to Jerusalem in that community art workshop said that the picture of a diverse and harmonious Holy City was nothing like the Jerusalem she had visited. She was right! ‘During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.’ It is central to both Israeli and Palestinian nationalism yet, while both the Jews and Arabs of this region clearly have painful histories (and histories which have often made more painful by the actions of Christians), history cannot and should not be used as an excuse to sustain the conflict. For the situation to change there must be justice, reconciliation and forgiveness. In other words, the Holy City of Whelan’s painting and of Isaiah’s vision is needed, in place of the conflict between peoples, nations and religions that has characterized the history of Jerusalem.

We will hear more of this at the end of the month when at St John's Seven Kings we welcome a speaker from Christian Aid to talk about their Breaking Down The Barriers project which is all about working for peace in a Holy Land.

In his teaching, Jesus told many stories of banquets. Through his ministry he invited all around him to taste and share the banquet of the richest food and the finest wine for all the nations of the world. On the night before he was betrayed he initiated a shared meal of bread and wine for all who follow in his way of healing, reconciliation and peace. The bread and wine that we share together whenever we celebrate this meal is a reminder that Jesus lay down his life, as his body was broken and his blood was shed, to bring forgiveness, healing, reconciliation and peace to all. He died that all people everywhere might live.

When we come together as people from many nations – Barbados, England, Ghana, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, St Kitts and Wales, among others – to share the special meal that Jesus gave us, we are not simply looking back to all he did for us on the cross. We are also looking forward to the vision of the New Jerusalem, the diverse and harmonious Holy City, where justice, reconciliation and forgiveness are found. What we experience as we share together is a little foretaste of the Kingdom of God come in full on earth as it is in heaven.

With that vision in mind, we go from this place to bring little foretastes of the Kingdom of God to others by the respect and tolerance and understanding and love that we can show in our everyday lives to those who are from another nation, part of a different culture, or believers in a different faith. That is also why, although it is ungainly and garish and replaces the Christmas Tree that we have had in previous years, it is a good thing to have festival lights celebrating all religious festivals between now and Twelfth Night in the form of a Dove of Peace.

As a little known hymn by Joseph Swain says:

How sweet, how heavenly is the sight,
When those that love the Lord
In one another’s peace delight,
And so fulfill His Word!

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Elvis Presley - Peace In The Valley.

Wednesday, 31 October 2012

Brian Whelan: The exchange of conversation and creativity

Brian Whelan is a raconteur and an artist. As such he goes against the accepted norm of artists by being very ready to talk about his paintings including actively striking up conversations with those who visit exhibitions. His current show, Mystery of the Message, is in the Crypt Gallery at St Martin-in-the-Fields. The Mystery of the Message refers to the cognitive space between the viewer and a work of art, or the distance the pilgrim may have to travel before the journey gives up its meaning. Every figure, plant, animal, inanimate object and gesture in the painting points a way.

Whelan's convivial personality and dialogical practice has resulted in a fascinating book, The Exchange, which is the record of a conversation by email with Lutheran pastor Jeff Frohner about his work. The correspondence between the pair "took on the qualities of a conversation that seemed so authentic that it wasn't long before we were buying symbolic 'pints' for each other as we settled into a comfortable rhythm of meaningful debate."

There is a sacred space, they suggest, created between art and the viewer where "angels and demons sit side by side and join in the conversation"; conversation which continues the life of Whelan's paintings as they are used "to see not only ourselves, but each other, the world and even God more fully." Whelan thinks that "a work of art is only completed when it is shared" and that the work of art exists between the artist and the viewer with the creativity of the viewer enhancing the understanding that the artist has of the work.

In his work Whelan brings together collage with painting; through paint he forms fragments of found objects - sweet wrappers, wrapping paper - into iconic images of characters from biblical, church, mythic and national history which shine through the strength of his colours and from the play of light on his shimmering surfaces. His paintings combine the profundity of play with the original intent of icons to create images which possess both deep past resonance and contemporary surface and shine.

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The Pogues - Lullaby Of London.

Monday, 31 August 2009

Greenbelt diary (2)

'Visionaries' exhibition

Paintings by Clive Hicks-Jenkins in the 'Visionaries' exhibition

Paintings by Phillipa Claydon in the 'Visionaries' exhibition

Sixpence None the Richer

My Greenbelt began, as is often the case (and one of the best reasons for going), by an unplanned meeting with friends and the chance to share some food together as we swapped notes on what we planned to see and do over the Festival.

One of the first things that I did was to visit the Visionaries exhibition and chat with its curators, Meryl & Malcolm Doney from the Wallspace gallery. The exhibition brings together a selection of recent and contemporary artists working in the Visionary Art tradition - which has its roots in the work of William Blake, Goya and Samuel Palmer – i.e. those who explore with passion the territories of the spiritual, the religious and the human condition. This version of the exhibition, which was originally shown at Wallspace, had a slightly reduced range of artists exhibited but this had the positive effect that some of the less well known artists in the exhibition, such Clive Hicks-Jenkins, Phillipa Claydon, Harry Adams and Brian Whelan, could be more fully represented.

Dave Tomlinson spoke about 'Church without borders' by viewing conversion as a process and way of life and churches as the hands, feet and heart of Christ in their communities. His talk seemed to me to be a summary of what I see us being to a limited extent and what I want us to become more fully at St Johns Seven Kings and, as a result, I will post separately a fuller set of notes from this session.

In an aside he spoke about Jesus writing in sand which led on to my writing the following meditation:

You wrote
in sand
impermanent
washed away
in rain
swept away
by hand
You wrote
in speech
unrecorded
no scribes
journos or
dictaphones
at your feet
You wrote
in flesh
crucified
breath hammered
and beaten
from your
lungs

You wrote
in sand
a pregnant
pause
causing stones
to fall
from condemning
hands
You wrote
in speech
everyday
stories
turning our
worlds
upside down
You wrote
in flesh
an emptying
of self
filling
empty lives
with love

Finally Sixpence None The Richer played a great set which included most of their very wonderful Divine Discontent album, some crowd-pleasers in 'Kiss Me' and 'There She Goes', as well as new material for their next album. Matt Slocum and Leigh Nash went their separate ways after making Divine Discontent as Matt explained in the Greenbelt programme: "Leigh and I had been making music together since we were teenagers. As we approached our 30s, there was a bit of restlessness to explore other things, but in the midst of this exploration, I felt a void open up, like I needed to be making music with Leigh." I, for one, am glad to see them reunited and making great music together.

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Sixpence None the Richer - Melody of You.

Friday, 10 April 2009

News from Wallspace

News from Wallspace:

Last chance to see 189 Miles Wool installation by Angela Wright - This has been a great experience and is coming to an end on Monday 13th April, come and take the opportunity to see it over this bank holiday! We're open 11am - 4pm. Over 600 people have come to see the work so far, here are a few of their responses:

Impressive work. Impressive setting.
Lovely to see light and shade passing across the work.
I must admit it was my first time visiting the space and I thought Angela Wright’s installation was just excellent – really worked in harmony with the space, remarkably avoiding any overt religious symbolism which I found fascinating. Beautiful work, and I sincerely hope to visit Wallspace again in the future!
I LOVE Angela’s piece, found it mesmerizing and fantastical, desperate to touch and stroke it, took supreme effort to leave it alone. Images of Rapunzel, Miss Haversham, and Gabriel kept coming to mind! Ultimately, felt it was about ‘grace’ in some strange way.

Next Exhibition: VISIONAIRIES working in the margins (May 19 – June 11 2009) - An exhibition of works and performance by artists on the edge – visionary artists whose work is set outside or on the fringes of cultural institutions, often offering a trenchant critique of culture.

Visionaries brings together artists working in this honourable and challenging tradition; essentially those who explore with passion the territories of the spiritual, the religious and the human condition.

The exhibition will include works by Stanley Spencer and Cecil Collins of the twentieth century, mid-twentieth-century paintings by Norman Adams, Albert Herbert and Anthony Goble, later painters such as Peter Howson, Clive Hicks-Jenkins and Brian Whelan, and twenty-first-century artists such as the Chapman brothers, Billy Childish and Adam Neate.

The visionary tradition can also be confrontational – evoking the anger and stridency of the prophetic voice throughout history. The artist can be the outsider, the 'voice crying in the wilderness', the holy fool. For this reason, the exhibition includes performance artists whose work references this rich tradition.

The exhibition, curated by Wallspace will be on show at All Hallows from 19 May to 11 June. It will then travel to Greenbelt Arts Festival, at Cheltenham Racecourse, August Bank Holiday weekend, 25 to 31 August.

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Lou Reed & Victoria Williams - Tarbelly & Featherfoot.