Clorinda Goodman and London Pride

Clorinda Goodman's Eden (Ancilla Domini) was recently exhibited in London Pride, a four day festival and exhibition held in the London Borough of Redbridge celebrating art & design in London over the last six decades, as part of the visit by HM Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh to the borough. Major galleries, museums, colleges and universities exhibited works of art and iconic design during this unique event, including the Tate and Saatchi galleries.

Here is an article Clorinda has written based on the incident depicted in this work:

EDEN – what’s in a name?

The stone carving I made of Eden, or rather, of a crucial event that took place there, was completed in Spring 2010. At first the name seemed so obvious that I did not give it a second thought. It shows the moment that Eve picked the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. And instead of rebuking her for disobedience, Adam is holding up his hand for a piece of it to taste. Somehow, one feels instinctively that this would have been more likely. After all they thought they were alone in the garden, and nobody could see, or would know.

My initial view of the matter was that it had been very unfair of Adam to blame Eve later, when the Lord God found out what they had done. So my carving was intended as a slightly feminist critique of Adam’s behaviour. As usual, the woman gets the blame for the man’s problems. I only vaguely recalled some words from Genesis: ‘The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat’ (ch.3.v.12). When challenged by God, Eve’s excuse is ‘The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat’. So the question arose as to whether Eve knew of the ban on eating from this particular tree? That was not something that sprang readily to mind.

After a sermon on Genesis, I finally had to examine my bible and look more closely at the sequence of events. Was Eve present when God told Adam, or did Adam pass the message on later? So was Eve truly an innocent party? The place where God forbids Adam to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge is in chapter 2.vv.16 and 17. But it is only in the following verse, v.18, that God decides that Adam needs a companion in the garden, and in v.21 creates her from a rib taken from Adam’s side as he lies in a deep sleep. Clearly Eve did not even exist at the time of this prohibition.

Looking back at the confession to the Lord God, Eve blamed the serpent. So I went further back to ch.3.v.1 which describes the serpent as ‘more subtil’ than any beast the field, and recounts its conversation with Eve. When the serpent encourages her to eat, she explains that it is forbidden by the Lord God (v.3). So this lets poor old Adam off the hook! Before she picked the fruit, Eve knew indeed that it was forbidden.  

Adam and Eve both experience a sudden unexpected consequence of their actions in ch.3.v.7 ‘And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons’. The meeting with God follows immediately, when he punishes them by condemning the woman to the pains of childbirth and Adam to a life of hard labour. The serpent simply receives a general curse.

So what is this chapter telling us? What underlying or symbolic meaning can we extract from it? Why did they become ashamed of being naked and sew themselves aprons - as opposed to a coat or any other garment? The most obvious answer is that this is about the awakening of shame, self consciousness and sexual maturity. Or perhaps, in Freudian terms, it portrays the journey from id to ego and super ego.

Although earlier (ch.1.v.27) Genesis told us that God had created man in his own image, ‘male and female created he them’, v.28 finds God commanding them to ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over …the fish, the fowl and every living thing’. This is well before God decided to create a companion for Adam in the garden in ch.2.v.18.

So the writer of Genesis perceived a conundrum. How could Adam and Eve be fruitful and multiply without the means to do so? Remaining in a state of blissful innocence simply would not do. Even when Adam welcomes Eve as his companion at the end of ch.2, and says she is ‘flesh of his flesh’, and that man shall leave his parents and cleave to his wife and become one flesh with her, v.25 reminds us that they were still naked and not ashamed. So they lacked self consciousness, and sexual desire until the serpent intervenes – as perhaps another powerful sexual symbol. If the serpent had not beguiled her, Eve would not have eaten the fruit, whether it was an apple or a pomegranate as some think. Had she not offered it to Adam, they would have remained in that delightful, carefree state of innocence that we see in small children.  So although it was disobedience, both the serpent and Eve were enabling God’s commandment to be fruitful to be fulfilled, but in a slightly different way than any of them appreciated.  

We are used to seeing the Virgin Mary referred to as ‘Ancilla Domini’, the handmaid of the Lord, at the Annunciation, when she agrees to bear the Son of God to be the Redeemer of the World. Perhaps it is time to reconsider Eve’s role, for without her curiosity, willingness to listen to persuasive argument and disobedience, human beings would have remained trapped in a sterile Paradise. Was Eve indeed the first Ancilla Domini? There is less to condemn in Adam, and more to thank Eve for than I first thought. So what about the role of the serpent? And finally, should I re-name my carving in Eve’s honour?

Exploring the nature of Christian Art

Jonathan Evens gave the following talk about commission4mission and the nature of Christian Art at West Mersea Parish Church yesterday, as part of their Learning Supper:

commission4mission was launched in March 2009 by our Patron, the Bishop of Barking, to encourage the commissioning and placing of contemporary Christian Art in churches, as a means of fundraising for charities and as a mission opportunity for churches.

We aim to:

·          provide opportunities for churches to obtain and commission contemporary Christian Art for church buildings;

·          provide information, ideas and examples of contemporary Christian Art and its use/display within church settings; and

·          raise funds for charities through commissions and sales of contemporary Christian Art. 

In the short time that commission4mission has been in existence we have:

·          built up a pool of over 30 artists available for Church commissions;

·          completed 7 commissions;

·          organised 12 exhibitions, two Study Days and several networking events for members;

·          created an Art Trail for the Barking Episcopal Area;

·          worked in partnership with CANA and Veritasse to create an Olympic-themed art project – Run With The Fire; and

·          developed a blog profiling our artists and giving up-to-date news of our activities.

Why do we do what we do? I would want to say that there is a Trinitarian underpinning to what we do.

Firstly, that we are creative because we are made in the image of our Creator. On this topic Michael Hampel has written that:

"Theologians have chewed over the question about what it means to be made in the image of God for some 3,000 years, and it took a writer – a detective novelist indeed – to come up with the most useful answer. Dorothy L Sayers, never shy of cutting through the brambles of theology to talk realistically about God, took a close look at the verse in the Book of Genesis that claims God created humankind in his image (Genesis 1: 27). She spotted that all we know of God up to that point in the Bible is that he was somehow responsible for creation, and so she concluded that to be made in the image of God means that we are most like God when we are being creative. She set about working out how to apply this theory to the creative impulse in her most significant piece of popular theology The Mind of the Maker (1941), a book that still today has a lot to say to us about how we resist the culture of instant gratification that has been more destructive of humankind and its environment than any world war.”

Secondly, the Spirit gives skill to craftspeople (Exodus 35. 30 – 35). Mark Driscoll has said:

“Perhaps the finest artist to have lived was Bezalel, a godly man who made sacred art (Exodus 31-40). The first Spirit-filled man in the Bible, he was chosen by God to be skilled, knowledgeable and able to teach in all kinds of craftsmanship. Since God did not want to be worshipped outdoors like the pagan/pantheistic gods, God assigned Bezalel to build the tabernacle. Repeatedly we are told of the result of the Spirit's leading in his life, "he made…" To be biblically inspired is to make. Aristotle defined art as the capacity to make. Art is the making of anything, from a meal to a symphony.

Bezalel's art was where man met God since the very presence of God dwelt with his art.”

Similarly, Calvin Seerveld urges young artists to: “Make your paintings, poetry, sculptures, songs, photography, stories, theatre pieces, music, or whatever artistry: craft it as a psalm before the face and ear of the Lord and let your neighbour listen in. Join the progeny of David, Asaph, Bezalel and Oholiab (Exodus 31:1-11), even the descendents of Korah (Psalms 42-49), and make merry before the LORD God, God's people, and even one's antagonists (Psalm 23:5).”

Thirdly, God the Son was seen/made visible/re-presented in human flesh in Jesus (John 1. 1 – 18). The doctrine of the Incarnation - the belief that, in Jesus, God himself became a human being and lived in a particular culture and time – is a key reason why visual art has featured so strongly in Christianity right from the early stages of its existence. If God had chosen to be seen in human form, so the argument goes, then the representation of God in human form is surely sanctioned by that choice. This can be clearly seen in the iconoclastic controversy of the eighth century which led to the destruction of many images, as successive emperors in Constantinople tried to stamp out their veneration.

Rowan Williams has summarised the arguments of those who were the defenders of images. Their argument was firstly that “God became truly human in Jesus … And [that] if Jesus was indeed truly human, we can represent his human nature as with any other member of the human race.” Secondly, they argued that, “If we paint a picture of Jesus, we’re not trying to show a humanity apart from divine life, but a humanity soaked through with divine life … We don’t depict just a slice of history when we depict Jesus; we show a life radiating the life and force of God.”

Next, I would want to say that the Arts are in many ways foundational to all that occurs in Church. Very briefly, we can say that:

•     the Architecture of our churches provides a designed context and stage for the worship that occurs within them;

•     we re-enact Biblical narratives through the poetry of the liturgy;

•     music in church provides composed expressions of emotions and stories in and through song; and

•     images in churches re-tell Biblical narratives and open windows into the divine.

Finally, I would also say that the Arts contribute to the mission of the Church by:

•    speaking eloquently of the faith;

•    providing a reason to visit a church – something we have tapped with our Art Trail for the Barking Episcopal Area;

•    making links between churches and local arts organisations/ initiatives; and

•    providing a focus for people to come together for a shared activity.

These then are key reasons why, in commission4mission, we seek to encourage the commissioning and placing of contemporary Christian Art in churches. This then leads on to an obvious and controversial question, ‘What is contemporary Christian Art?’ or even is there such a thing as ‘Christian Art’?

Some people answer this question by saying that ‘Christian Art’ is art made by Christians but, if that is the answer to the question, then there is much that we are ruling out. Fernand Léger’s mural at Assy, Henri Matisse’s Chapel at Vence, and Le Corbusier’s Church at Ronchamp are some of the most interesting art works and architecture created for churches during the twentieth century and all were by artists who made no claim to be Christians. In fact, all these commissions came about because of an approach to commissioning art for churches which argued that Christian art could be revived by appealing to the independent masters of the time with churches commissioning the very best artists available, and not quibbling over the artists' beliefs. If all ‘Christian Art’ is art made by Christians then we rule all this out.

So, maybe, ‘Christian Art’ is art commissioned by the Church? Again, this seems too limiting a definition. For instance, Mark C. Taylor has noted that "From the beginning of modern art in Europe, its practitioners have relentlessly probed religious issues. Though not always immediately obvious, the questions religion raises lurk on or near the surface of even the most abstract canvases produced during the modern era.” “All of the major abstract expressionists,” he says, “were deeply interested in religion and actively incorporated spiritual concerns in their work.” He concludes that, “One of the most puzzling paradoxes of twentieth-century cultural interpretation is that, while theologians, philosophers of religion, and art critics deny or surpress the religious significance of the visual arts, many of the leading modern artists insist that their work cannot be understood apart from religious questions and spiritual issues."

Re-thinking again, is it art which uses Biblical/Church images, stories or themes? Once again, this is too narrow a definition which would not capture, for example, the images that the deeply Catholic Georges Rouault produced of prostitutes, which William Dryness has described as “painted as penetrating types of the misery of human existence” but with grace also seen as “divine meaning is given to human life by the continuing passion of Jesus Christ.” Nor would we capture the semi-abstractions created by the Evangelical Christian Makoto Fujimura who uses semi-precious minerals in the Nihonga style to create paintings that tend to only hint at recognizable subjects.

As a result of these difficulties in definition, some argue that ‘Christian Art’ is a meaningless category. From this perspective, and following the ideas of the art critic Clement Greenberg, it is argued that the artwork is what it is and everything else (including any element of Christianity) is interpretation. But if this is the case then the ideas and influences of the artist, the relationship that the artwork has with its historical and art historical context, and our own response to the artwork are all ruled out of the frame. The artwork is something entirely separate from these and yet each in different ways has interacted with and affected the artwork itself. Without these the artwork does not exist or is not seen.

To add to the complexity, here’s a poem in translation by the German kinetic sculptor Heinz Mack who has had much experience of trying to work in and with Catholic chapels in Germany:

“Church art is not always art.

Art that happens to be placed in church, is art in the church,

But not Church art.

Church art that is shown in museums, remains church art in museums.

Art for the Church is not always regarded as art by the Church.

The Church does not always want art.

Art is art without the Church.

Great Church art is art in the church and for the church.”

In seeking to encourage the commissioning and placing of contemporary Christian Art in churches, commission4mission is aiming to be about “art in the church and for the church.”

Why does it matter one way or the other? James Elkins has accurately described the current relationship between the art world and religion:

"Sooner or later, if you love art, you will come across a strange fact: there is almost no modern religious art in museums or in books of art history. It is a state of affairs that is at once obvious and odd, known to everyone and yet hardly whispered about ... a certain kind of academic art historical writing treats religion as an interloper, something that just has no place in serious scholarship ... Straightforward talk about religion is rare in art departments and art schools, and wholly absent from art journals unless the work in question is transgressive. Sincere, exploratory religious and spiritual work goes unremarked. Students who make works that are infused with spiritual or religious meanings must normally be content with analysis of their works' formal properties, technique, or mode of presentation. Working artists concerned with themes of spirituality (again, excepting work that is critical or ironic about religion) normally will not attract the attention of people who write for art magazines ... An observer of the art world might well come to the conclusion that religious practice and religious ideas are not relevant to the art world unless they are treated with scepticism. And that's odd, because there is a tremendous amount of religious art ..."

Essentially, if you are a Christian and an artist, the mainstream art world provides no points of reference, no role models for you to follow. Yet, as we heard Mark C. Taylor saying earlier, "From the beginning of modern art in Europe, its practitioners have relentlessly probed religious issues.” Timothy Potts has noted that “... the pervasiveness of broadly religious and spiritual themes in twentieth-century Western art may at first seem to stand in contradiction to the secularization of so many aspects of life and culture during our times.” But, when we catch a glimpse of the true extent to which the practitioners of modern art have relentlessly probed religious issues, we will not be surprised at this pervasiveness.

What is needed, as Daniel A. Siedell has suggested, is “an alternative history and theory of the development of modern art, revealing that Christianity has always been present with modern art, nourishing as well as haunting it, and that modern art cannot be understood without understanding its religious and spiritual components and aspirations.” When we have this young and emerging Christian artists will have role models and all of us can be nourished and haunted by the religious issues probed by modern and contemporary art.

The four facets of any artwork that I mentioned earlier can be used to explore the way in which modern and contemporary art probes religious issues. To see how this can work look, for example, at Andres Serrano's Piss Christ and think about your responses to each of the four facets of this artwork.

First, the nature of the artwork is that it is a 60x40 inch Cibachrome photograph of a small plastic crucifix submerged in urine. How do you respond to it? Responses often include comments on its beauty and the traditional nature of the image in addition to questioning whether the work is intended satirically.

Second, the ideas and influences of the artist in creating this piece included it being one in a series of classical statuettes submerged in fluids and a comment on the commercialisation of religion. How do you respond to it now? Responses often include questions about other statuettes in the series and about the artist's motivation in attacking the commercialisation of religion.

Third, in thinking about the artwork’s relationship with its historical and art historical context, we can see that the crucifix has an art historical lineage but is also a contemporary commercial religious product, so the work contributes to a debate regarding traditional and contemporary expressions of Christianity. How do you respond to it now? Responses often include a sense of agreeing that the work raises issues about the nature of images in religion.

Fourth, the response of viewer’s to this artwork has been twofold. There have been death threats to the artist, vandalism of the artwork and attempts to ban it from those who view it as an attack on Christianity. Alternatively, there are Christians who see it as a depiction of incarnation; of Christ coming into the detritus of life. How do you respond to it now? Responses often include the acknowledgement that the work stimulates a depth of debate because it works on several different levels.  

The work comes alive to us through the different layers of response we make to each facet of our consideration of the artwork and the debate this engenders. Each facet that we have considered involved an real engagement with aspects of Christianity, so we could therefore conclude that, however we responded personally, this is actually a deeply Christian work. Sustained reflection on artworks is what will lead us to a recognition of the spirituality and religious engagement inherent in much modern and contemporary art.

Andrew Vessey

The Revd Canon Andrew Vessey is an artist-priest who, while believing it important that Christian art connects with wider society as well as church members, thinks the particular duty of the artist who is a Christian is to develop images and symbols that stretch the meaning of our inherited biblical visual vocabulary.
His own major oil or gouache paintings grow from within particular landscapes in which he has come to see and feel the presence of saints and angels, to the point of becoming a setting of a particular biblical story in a contemporary setting. These studio works are supported by poems, written to explore the same theme both before or after the painting takes place. Other pictures will directly record in ink or pastel the changing light, impact of seasonal differences and the weather, especially around the woods and fields and along the estuaries of northern Suffolk.

Andrew trained at the Chelsea College of Fine Art and Bishop Otter College of Education. His ordained and parish ministry was in Suffolk, Worcestershire and Swansea. He has exhibited at Bury St Edmonds (1968/70), Bath (1975/76), Salisbury (1983), Worcester (2003), and Swansea (2008/11).

New regional c4m representative

We are excited to be able to introduce Wendy McTernan, who has offered to represent commission4mission in Central, South & West London and to link up with our artists living and working in these areas. We think that Wendy's input can help to establish a regional cell for c4m artists in these areas to organise local social and arts events, develop relationships with local churches/structures and commissioning opportunities.

Wendy has been thinking about doing some art curating with a Christian ethos for a couple of years and just recently took the plunge by moving on from her job as Head of Development & Communications with the mission agency Latin Link. As well as seeking new employment, she is pursuing her art and mission interests. One project on which she is working is a photographic exhibition, originally seen in a church in Paris, that she is hoping to bring to London this year linked with the Year of the Bible/Biblefresh.

Wendy will initially be getting in touch with our artists in her area to discuss the idea of a regional c4m cell and to arrange an initial networking meeting.

Perspectives on commissioning Christian Art (4)

The Rt. Revd. David Hawkins, Bishop of Barking, spoke at commission4mission's recent Study Day from the perspective of those envisioning others on the commissioning of contemporary art for churches:

"All human beings are made in the image of God; everyone has creativity within them and, for Christians, that creativity becomes part of their worship whether conscious or not.

If we think of worship as liturgy, music, preaching etc, then we can see that much of the Church's worship and teaching has been through the visual arts. Teaching was, for example, read in stained glass, frescoes and mosaics. We need to help our congregations recognise that a large part of worship is non-verbal and that the visual arts and music often move people more than words. It is, after all, a visual world we live in.

commission4mission is deliberately saying that commissioning art is a mission activity and that is necessary because the narrative of the christian faith is no longer in people's heads. As a result, we need to make the story visual once again.

This Study Day has included discussions about finance and we need to face the question of whether commissioning art is an indulgent project in recession time. Times of recession, historically, have been when the Arts have flourished as we have a need for hope and inspiration. Modest expenditure can produce real inspiration.

Numbers 21. 4-9 is about the first piece of public art in the Judeao-Christian tradition; an artwork that was transformative and healing. The bronze serpent had a transformational integrity with the people of God in a particular place and started me thinking about God and context. It has similarities to the Angel of the North; which has been a symbol of inspiration in a depressed part of the country.

Two examples of collaborative commissions may help in taking these thoughts further. These were modest projects coming out of encounter with God and the people of St Georges Leeds. The first involved a major reordering during which Victorian balconies were taken out to reveal huge lancet windows with blank glass (where the balconies had been) above the stained glass (which had previously been all that could be seen of the windows).

I designed a panel to complete the Victorian stained glass which was contemporary but harmonising and worked with a stained glass artist to realise the design. The window was the culmination of a year of teaching to commemorate 150 years of the church. The theme for the window - the Tree of Life - was obvious because the theme of the year had been roots and shoots. The simple stylised design had a context and a sense of focusing and summarising an important year in the life of the church.

The second project involved the Crypt of St Georges which, since 1930, has been a night shelter and day centre for homeless people. Refurbishment of the Crypt involved replacement of the boiler and the clearing out of the old Victorian boiler room; a beautiful and still vaulted space. On seeing it cleared out, I immediately said it had to be a chapel and place of prayer for the Crypt.

Steve Simpson was the artist commissioned to create a work on a Last Supper theme with the work intended to be seen above a bench running all around the room and seating 12 comfortably. We envisaged a mural or a set of paintings but found that alot of collaboration - between the artist, Vicar and homeless users of the building - was needed to squeeze out something inspirational.

Steve brought cartoons of his ideas based on photographic images of the Crypt's users. These were rectangular paintings which made the space look like a gallery rather than a worship space. I suggested tearing the paintings up which he initially said he was not going to do but, after half and hour of debate, he started to tear around the images and they became like historical artefacts emerging as fragments from the walls. The time and agony of time taken on the problems of a committee relating to an artist; this process became part of the work of art. Because of the process, the work was altogether different but integral to the church space. It is therefore important to argue but to still stay friends.

These stories lead me to three final points:

1. The importance of collaborative process and finding real creativity which allows people to feel that their signature is there.

2. The scope for temporary art in churches which reflects a particular generation and period. We can all think of paintings or stained glass that have served their useful life but which can't be easily removed. Art can be for that time alone and can be created with the expectation that it will later be taken down. This approach can help to keep the relationship between art and faith alive and vital. It is similar to music, where some hymns go on forever while others go out of fashion.

3. Encouraging all kinds of people from our communities - not just Christians - to bring visual expressions into church, as a missional and outreach activity."