Upcoming exhibitions

commission4mission has two exhibitions planned for July. The first will be at the Crypt Gallery, St Martin-the-Fields, from 4th - 17th July, 10.00am - 8.00pm and will include a wide range of artists showing work in a variety of media including concept drawings, fused glass, paintings and reliefs. The exhibition will also include information about completed commissions and the commissioning process. Exhibiting artists currently include: Adam Boulter, Harvey Bradley, Ally Clarke, Valerie Dean, Jonathan Evens, Mark Lewis, Viki Isherwood-Metzler, Nadiya Pavliv-Tokarska, Caroline Richardson, Janet Roberts, Henry Shelton, Sergiy Shkanov, and Peter Webb. A Private View will be held on Monday 4th July from 6.00 - 8.00pm. RSVP to jonathan.evens@btinternet.com, if you would like to attend.

Our second exhibition will be held at Holy Trinity and St Augustine of Hippo Leytonstone from 14th - 20th July (10.00am - 1.00pm and 4.00 – 7.00pm) as part of the Leytonstone Festival and the Barking Episcopal Area Art Festival. This exhibition will include work by Colin Burns, Jonathan Evens, Mark Lewis, Henry Shelton and Joy Rousell Stone. On Wednesday 20th July at 7.30pm, Dr Graham Gould will speak on Scenes from the life of St Augustine, a concrete frieze by the sculptor Stephen Sykes at Holy Trinity and St Augustine, Mark Lewis will speak on the Art Trail for the Barking Episcopal Area and commission4mission's AGM will be held.

Run With The Fire

‘Run With The Fire’ is an arts project for the London 2012 Olympics, organised by CANA, commission4mission and Veritasse, based on the image of fire which links the Church’s Pentecost celebration with that of the Olympic runner. 24 international artists were selected by a jury which included Dianne B. Collard (Director of Ministries - Europe for Artists in Christian Testimony International), Martin Crampin (Artist, researcher and designer), and Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker (Editor-in-Chief of ArtWay).

The project began with each artist writing a statement to describe their vision of ’Running With The Fire’ for the other artists involved. Each artist is creating an artwork, using the idea of another artist as a starting point. This aspect of the project simulates the idea of a relay, with ideas being passed from one artist to the next. The final product will be a virtual exhibition on DVD/CD-Rom for display on large scale HD TV or monitor, or for projection using a digital projector. This virtual exhibition of international artwork can then be presented alongside arts events, exhibitions or other Olympics-themed events organized by local churches during 2012.

Barking Episcopal Area Arts Festival

The Barking Episcopal Area Arts Festival is a new initiative beginning in 2011. The Festival will involve a series of quality events from a variety of Arts genre as a way of embracing and celebrating both performing and visual arts from the Barking Episcopal area and engaging with the local communities, their people and arts culture. It is iintended that the Festival will be an annual event but held in a different part of the Episcopal Area each year and will run in parallel with one of the already established community arts festivals or trails within the Area.

The first Barking Episcopal Area Arts Festival is taking place from Thursday 14th – Saturday 24th July and will run parallel to the Leytonstone Festival. For more information contact: The Revd. Kathryn Robinson, Performing Arts Adviser for the Barking Area - Tel: 020 8520 3771 / Email: KthrynRbnsn@aol.com - or The Revd. Jonathan Evens, Visual Arts Adviser for the Barking Area - Tel: 020 8599 2170 / Email: jonathan.evens@btinternet.com.

commission4mission will be exhibiting as part of the Festival from Thursday 14^th – Monday 18^th July at Holy Trinity with St Augustine Leytonstone (4 Holloway Road E11 4LD). For times and details - tel: 020 8539 6067 or see http://www.trinityleytonstone.org/indexnext.htm.

on Monday 18th July, 6.00 – 8.00pm, at St Johns Leytonstone:

Other exhibitions during the Festival will be by Peter S. Smith and the St Johns Photographic Group from Thursday 14^th – Sunday 24^th July at St Johns Leytonstone (High Road, Leytonstone, London E11). 

Peter Smith is a Painter/Printmaker working out of a studio in Clink Street on the Southbank in London. He studied Fine Art at Birmingham Polytechnic (BA (Hons) Fine Art, 1969) and Art Education at Manchester (Post Graduate Certificate in Education,1970). In 1992 he gained an MA (Printmaking) at Wimbledon School of Art. From 1971 he taught, full and part-time, in Secondary and Further Education. Between 1979 and 1981 he was West Midlands Fine Art Fellow working as Artist in Residence with Dudley Education Services. He was Head of the School of Art and Design at Kingston College from 1983 until 2010.

He exhibits his paintings and prints in the UK and overseas with work in public and private collections as well as teaching workshops in the visual arts. In 2002 to 2005 he was Further Education Sector representative on the National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD) Council and from 2005 to 2007, 2nd Vice President of NSEAD. He is currently UK member of the Board of Christian Artists Seminar. Chairman of the Athene Trust. Member of the Society of Wood Engravers.

In September 2006, Piquant Editions published a book about his printmaking called “The way I see it….” With an Introductory essay by Calvin Seerveld. He is currently working on a print commissioned by St John the Baptist Church Leytonstone to celebrate the the new church roof. A small exhibition will take place in
the church during the Festival where Peter will give a talk about his work 

The St Johns Photographic Group will exhibit photographs taken during the recent building restoration work at the church.

Art for Easter Sunday and beyond

The panoramas above show the colour columns that Robert Enoch installed at St Paul's Harlow from Easter Sunday onwards. Robert's installation is the first initiative in what we hope will be a developing relationship with the church from which a range of arts initiatives may develop. In the next development Robert and Jonathan Evens will contribute to an arts-related service at St Paul's on 3rd July.

Also on display from Easter Sunday has been Adam Boulter's The Resurrection at St Mary Aldermary. Adam's modern reinterpretation of the Stations of the Cross enabled reflection and prayer prior to Easter Sunday but without the 14th resurrection station, which has been on display from Easter Sunday onwards. A podcast of Adam talking with Ian Mobsby about the display can be downloaded from here. In this podcast, Ian and Adam explore the importance of art in spirituality, and the tradition of stations of the cross.  

Update: Member's exhibitions

Harvey Bradley will be showing work in the selected members exhibition organised by Anglian Potters at the Dolby Gallery (Oundle, nr Peterborough) from 6th - 21st May. This exhibition of pottery and ceramics includes work by: Jane Barker, Deborah Baynes, Robert Bibby, Harvey Bradley, Susan Cupitt, Margaret Gardiner,Helen Humphreys, Lorraine Izon, Victor Knibbs, Frank Logan, Sonia Lewis, Helen Martino, Stephen Murfitt, John Masterton, Colin Saunders, Ursula Stroeh-Rubens, Lola Swain and Katherine Winfrey.

Adam Boulter will be showing Paintings and Watercolours at Chez Manny, Battersea High St. SW11 3JS from Thursday 12th May till mid June. His show is viewable during the restaurant's opening hours.

Peter Webb is currently showing in the exhibition organised by the National Society of Painters, Sculptors and Printmakers, Monday 25 April – Sunday 8 May, at the Crypt Gallery, St Martin-in-the-Fields. Displaying a delight in the visual world and a fascination with its depiction, this exhibition by members of the society shows the typically wide variety of approach, technique and content fostered by its members.

Lost and Found an exhibition of cityscapes by Ukrainian-born artist and gallery founder Nadiya Pavliv-Tokarska exploring existential and psychological states in painting between abstraction and representation continues at the Tokarska Gallery.