Photographing community relations

Click here to view Mark Burton's beautiful photographs documenting the recent visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury to Leytonstone. Mark will be the main exhibitor at St Barnabas Walthamstow for the E17 Art Trail 2012 during the first three weekends of September.
On June 7th the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, visited St Andrews Church and Shri Nathji Sanatan Hindu Mandir in Leytonstone. He had come to hear about initiatives from the Near Neighbours programme, which bring people of different faiths together.

Mark was invited to photograph the day by the Forest Women’s Interfaith Network. Like many grass roots leaders, they work tirelessly behind the scenes to create a web of relationships that bind our community together.

During the day he was enormously impressed by Dr Williams saying he had never seen anyone work a room like he did – not a hand was left unshaken and he made time to make sure there were a few words and a warm smile for everyone.

Reflect: Sergiy Shkanov

Sergiy Shkanov

Sergiy with visitors to the exhibition

'Easter Soon'

Sergiy Shkanov's summer exhibition at St Andrew's Leytonstone, part of the Reflect programme run by the church, will end after tomorrow's 10.00am Mass. The exhibition reflected aspects of the diversity of Sergiy's work with abstract, figurative and symbolic work all featuring. Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sergiy graduated from the Ukrainian Academy of Printing before studying stained glass and the restoration of oil paintings at Richmond College, London. He has taught at the Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, participated in group shows across Europe, and held personal exhibitions in the UK. He writes: "My concern in art is as old as the world itself - to introduce to our world something that will not destroy, but construct it. The artist is like the emptiness of a flute, through which a sound goes resulting in the creation of music. In our contemporary world there is too much violence and too little love. There should be something to oppose this. I choose art as a means of resistance."

Summer exhibitions

'Nice To See You' by Sergiy Shkanov

'Trinity' by Sergiy Shkanov

Reflect at St Andrew's Leytonstone is to host a Summer Arts Exhibition by Sergiy Shkanov between 17th - 24th July from 12 noon - 2.00pm (closed Sunday 18th and Monday 19th). Originally from the Ukraine but now a local artist, Sergiy works with stained glass, murals, mosaics and painting. His work carries a powerful message about love and peace, and art as a means of opposing violence and anger. Entry is free and creative activities will also be held in St Andrew's community cafe, Refresh.

Caroline Richardson and Michael Creasey are to exhibit in BASH (Big Arts Submission Havering) at the Visual Arts Centre in Frances Bardsley School, Romford. BASH features four artists over four weeks at the Visual Arts Centre. Caroline will exhibit from 2nd - 6th August and Michael from 23 - 27th August.

Caroline's exhibition features layers of glass and light interacting in a collection of work inspired by natural themes. The exhibition opens on Monday 2nd with a launch night from 7-9.00pm. Tuesday to Friday opening times are 9.30am - 3.00pm.

c4m artists update (5)

Sergiy Shkanov will be exhibiting work at St Andrew's Leytonstone from 17th - 24th July while the Leytonstone Festival is underway.

Michael Creasey will be having a one man show at the Visual Arts Centre, Frances Bardsley School, Romford from August 23rd to 28th.

Jonathan Evens and Benjamin Rutt-Field have been involved in the development of a Church Art Trail involving four Anglican churches in the London Borough of Redbridge. Works by Henry Shelton feature in the Trail alongside works by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Leonard Evetts, Anthony Foster, Derek Hunt, C. E. Kempe & Co. Ltd., William Morris, Jane Quail and A. Wyatt.
Creation of the Art Trail has been supported by Living Streets as part of the Fitter for Walking project and copies of the Art Trail leaflets can now be found in local churches. Fitter for Walking helps residents create streets they can be proud of. It’s funded by the Big Lottery Fund, along with contributions from local authorities to work in five areas of England.

Passion at the Cafe

Seeds of Life at St Andrew’s Leytonstone is the second phase of a creative project, The Tree of Life, working with community groups and local artists to celebrate life in Leytonstone in the run up to Easter.

As part of this a programme of drop-in sessions and recitals by local artists, craftspeople and musicians has been organised in St Andrew’s community café, Cafe Refresh.

Called Passion at the Café the programme will feature a musical recital by Latin American harpist and poet, Ricardo Curbelo; a felt-making workshop with Leytonstone craftswoman, Lizzie Houghton; a drawing workshop with Mark Lewis, environmental art with Wendy le Ber and a Salsa dancing taster session with Jane Kendrick, as well as mandala making.

Other Seeds of Life events at St Andrew’s this spring include the St Andrew’s Youth Group producing a decorative collage in partnership with local artist Peter Webb, and the church’s Lent group making Christian mandalas.

Passion at the Café will run from Tuesday 23rd March until Wednesday 31st March (excluding Sundays) between 12 and 2pm. The full programme is as follows:

Tuesday 23rd March
Mark Lewis - drawing
12.30-2pm

Wednesday 24th March
Lizzie Houghton - feltmaking
12.30-2pm

Thursday 25th March
Wendy Le Ber - environmental art
12.30-2pm

Friday 26th March
Ricardo Curbelo - Latin American Harp recital
1-1.30pm

Saturday 27th March
Jane Kendrick - Salsa taster class
12.30-1.30 pm

Tuesday 30th March
Mandala making
12.30-2 pm

Wednesday 31st March
Lesley Palmer - seed pot planting and making
12.30-1.30 pm

For further information, email Helen Gheorghiu Gould (Development Worker) at hsgheorghiu@btinternet.com or tel: 07866 451744.

Seeds of Life

Seeds of Life is the Lent/Easter arts programme at St Andrew's Leytonstone. The programme is being devised and organised by Helen Gould and is a follow-on to the earlier Tree of Life programme.

Seeds of Life will include arts activities with the Seniors, Youth, Lent and House groups at St Andrew's. In addition, there will be two weeks of drop-in session at Cafe Refresh encouraging people to write or draw on the theme. It is also hoped to create a living cross and hold a creative event for Mothering Sunday.

Helen Gould

Helen Gould with Michael Creasey and Henry Shelton

Helen Gould will begin working on events and strategic development for commission4mission this month.

Helen is currently an ordinand at the North Thames Ministerial Training Course and will be ordained as a Deacon in June. We have gained funding from London over the Border to enable us to employ Helen on a part-time basis from February - April and then, once in her curacy, she will continue to be able to give time to work for commission4mission.

Before beginning ordination training, Helen was Director of Creative Exchange, a charity which for ten years researched and advocated for the role of culture in development. The organisation built up an international network and completed projects exploring the role of culture in international development, HIV/AIDS, conflict and in the inclusion and integration of refugees and asylum seekers.

Creative Exchange was launched in 1998, following a meeting of artists, development practitioners and policymakers in London in May 1997 which called for the establishment of a network to share information about the role played by arts activities in international development and social policy.

It gained charitable status in 2000. Its charitable mandate – to advance public education about ways in which arts and culture help poor and disadvantaged people improve their quality of life – was specially devised by the Charity Commission since no other charity had previously served to promote the social role of the arts.

Creative Exchange activities helped people connect and share ideas and skills, learn about the use of culture and arts in social settings, and change and influence policy and practice. Creative Exchange worked with local practitioners and grassroots organisations, listening to their knowledge and wisdom of how culture works and influences in people and communities. This work opened up new avenues for enquiry on the ‘Affective’ nature of arts and culture – the way culture engages with our emotional make-up and enables us to engage, participate and learn.

Since becoming an ordinand, Helen has been the Development Worker at St Andrew's Leytonstone where she has been involved in setting up Café Refresh and its Reflect Arts programme. Helen organised the commission4mission exhibition and artist's networking evening held at St Andrew's in 2009 and the Tree of Life Arts programme to which several commission4mission artists contributed.

The Tree of Life

St Andrews Leytonstone are mounting a community art exhibition from 8th-22 November as part of their Tree of Life project. It's a programme to bring together members of their community to create art work and share memories at St Andrew's church - this also links in with the theme of Remembrance, and their Service of Remembrance on 8th November. Their Seniors Group, youth group and church group have been working with local artists on their art work for the exhibition, professional artists will also be exhibiting, and they will have creative drop-in events in Café Refresh throughout the exhibition period.

St Andrews describe this project as follows:

"The Tree of Life is a creative project, started by St Andrew’s Church, working with community groups and local artists to produce arts work that reflects and celebrates life in Leytonstone.

Participants will display work alongside professional artists in an exhibition, Roots and Remembrance, in the church and Café Refresh from November 8th – 22nd. There will be an exhibition launch on 8th November at 11.30 am - all welcome for tea and coffee after the annual St Andrew's Service of Remembrance.

The Tree of Life is a commonly used symbol across many different cultures, which suggests the idea that all life on earth is related and has common roots. Our Tree of Life project will connect people in our community, remind us of our roots and connections here, and help us grow relationships in the place where we live.

Local artists including Mark Lewis, Peter Webb, Wendy Le Ber and Sba Shaikh will be exhibiting alongside community groups. We invite all our community in to come and share a memory, write or draw, and connect with others.

Programme of Activities

• Sunday 8 November - St Andrew’s Remembrance Sunday Service, 10.00 am, and Exhibition Launch (all welcome for coffee and tea), 11.30 am.
• Tues 10th November - Creative Drop-in Workshop (Mark Lewis/Peter Webb), 12.30 pm.
• Tues 17th November - Share a local memory or story, 12.30 pm.
• Wed 18th November - Creative Drop-in Workshop (Wendy Le Ber), 12.30 pm.
• Thur 19th November - Brigantia Consort lunchtime concert, 12.30 pm.
• Sat 21st November - Forest Heritage Walk with Forest Keeper (Ian Greer), 11.30 am – 12noon.

Further information: 07866 451744 or refresh@standrewsleytonstone.org.

Newsletter No. 3 – August 2009

West Ham Festival exhibition

Three exhibitions at three Festivals

Our first three exhibitions were held within a three month period as part of the Pentecost, West Ham and Leytonstone Festivals. Exhibiting artists included: Harvey Bradley, Anne Creasey, Michael J. Creasey, Jonathan Evens, David Hawkins, Rosalind Hore, Henry Shelton, Peter Shorer, Joy Rousell Stone and Peter Webb. The reaction from both the churches involved and from those visiting the exhibitions was very positive. All Saints West Ham have, as a result, offered us a permanent exhibition space.

Mark Lewis, Rosalind Hore & Jonathan Evens at the Leytonstone networking event

Spirituality – the heartbeat of Art?

Our exhibition at St Andrews Leytonstone also included a successful Art & Spirituality networking evening where we debated the question, 'Spirituality - the heartbeat of Art?'

Helen Gould, Refresh Project Development Worker at St Andrews, opened the event by saying that the networking event and exhibition launched a new creative programme – Reflect – which will run alongside their newly opened café, Refresh. Their intention being to offer a spiritual haven to the local community.

The evening continued with presentations from three commission4mission artists. Rosalind Hore spoke about her work as the exaggeration of emotion. She reflected on the way in which the medium affects the means by which she conveys emotion; working in clay affords more detail, while working in plaster or concrete requires sweeping lines and folds. She also described her functional work for church festivals and the way in which worship often inspired images and new work.

Mark Lewis spoke about spirituality in art as a sense of aliveness. He highlighted the very different work of Mark Rothko and Stanley Spencer, speaking about the sense of contemplation induced by Rothko's work and the sense of heaven in the ordinary in Spencer's. In speaking of his own work he described his sense of absorption in and fusion with the work as a spiritual experience.

Jonathan Evens argued that, despite reluctance among art critics and tutors to note or engage with religious themes and imagery, there is nevertheless a prevalence of religious themes and imagery to be found in modern and contemporary art. He gave a brief and partial alternative history of modern and contemporary art to illustrate this argument and suggested that this prevalence of themes and images does indicate that spirituality remains a significant inspiration of the visual arts.

Summaries of these three presentations can be found by clicking here, here and here. They led on to vigorous debate which covered the following issues:

• the extent to which spirituality should be the starting point for an artist's work or conversely whether spirituality could emerge from the artist's handling of form;
• the extent to which non-religious themes can convey a sense of spirituality;
• the extent to which traditional religious iconography still connects with the general public or whether artists should seek to create new imagery and forms for the truths of their faith;
• the extent to which the artist bears the potential audience for the work in mind while creating or is absorbed in the work itself without consideration of outside influences;
• the extent to which it is better to display spiritual art within churches or out in the public realm;
• ways of countering the perceived lack of interest or understanding of spirituality within the art world generally; and
• the need for examples of good practice and networks of artists with an interest in both art and spirituality.

Perspectives on commissioning Christian Art

The programme for our Study Day entitled 'Perspectives on commissioning Christian Art' has been finalised. Taking place on Saturday 7th November at Chelmsford Cathedral (New Street, Chelmsford, CM1 1TY) from 10.00am – 2.30pm , it follows our showcase exhibition in the Cathedral (Monday 2nd - Saturday 7th November, Cathedral opening times).

The programme is as follows:

9.45am - Registration & refreshments;
10.00am - Welcome & Introduction to commission4mission;
10.20am - The Very Revd. Peter Judd, Dean of Chelmsford Cathedral – ‘Experiences of commissioning art for Church & Cathedral’;
10.50am - Dr James Bettley, Chair of Chelmsford DAC – ‘Commissioning & the Faculty process’;
11.20am - Three commission4mission artists to be interviewed about their experiences of commissioning;
12 noon - Midday Prayers, Lunch break & Exhibition viewing;
1.00pm - Q&A session involving Peter Judd, Dr. James Bettley & the three artists;
1.45pm - Rt. Revd. David Hawkins, Bishop of Barking – ‘A Vision for the commissioning of contemporary Christian Art’;
2.15pm - Q&A session with Bishop David;
2.30pm: Close & Exhibition take-down.

To book a place or for more information, contact Jonathan Evens on 020 8599 2170 or jonathan.evens@btinternet.com.

First Station produced by Henry Shelton for the St Pauls Goodmayes commission

Two commissions

Our first two commissions have been over a year in negotiation but are currently in preparation. The first, is a set of fifteen Stations of the Cross by Henry Shelton for St Pauls Goodmayes (see left for example), which includes a central tryptich incorporating three stations and a resurrection station. The second is for two paintings by Henry Shelton (Crucifixion and Do this in remembrance of me) for the St Lukes Prayer Room at Queens Hospital Romford. This latter commission may also be expanded to include an additional piece by Henry and a sculpture by Rosalind Hore.

'St George and the Dragon' by Peter Webb

Member profile: Peter Webb

Peter Webb is a Fine Artist and former Head of Art at the Bishop Stopford School. His commissions include paintings of St George and the Supper at Emmaus for the school. He has painted many portraits of staff at the School and created a statue of Bishop Stopford from papier-mâché on a galvanised chicken-wire frame. His painting of The Betrayal can be viewed at St Marys Woodford. Peter is a member of Faith & Image and has contributed to community arts initiatives including a mobile created as part of the 2008 Woodford Festival.

Spirituality - the heartbeat of Art? (3)

In the third presentation from the Art & Spirituality networking evening at St Andrews Leytonstone, where three artists addressed the question 'Spirituality - the heartbeat of Art?', Mark Lewis speaks about spirituality in art as a sense of aliveness:

"I have taken something of a comparative approach and a very personal outlook on art and the spiritual. Heartbeat means life. No heartbeat no life. This rings chords with me because although I think that to a great extent all art has the potential to be spiritual … a real authentic spiritual heartbeat occurs when it brings about a certain sense of aliveness (I don’t just mean well-being) a heightened awareness; a depth or altered state of consciousness; a quickening of the human spirit. It’s a struggle to find the right kind of descriptive language to speak of these things, but I think Kandinsky got very close to it when he spoke of “a vibration in the soul”.

To be truly spiritual it has to be something that engages us, unites us, awakens us, gives a deeper loving engagement with life. It is something that sacralises, and at the same time, gives access to an experience of the sacred. It can be both medium and message. I am wary of trying to pin down these experiences because they are subjective and work at different level with different people. But, for the Christian tradition, it is the Spirit that gives life and it is the Spirit that speaks to our heart through the richness of art.

Many artists have always recognized a hidden spirituality in what they are doing. They are aware of an indefinable "other" which inspires artists and leads them into ever deeper creativity. The work of Rothko and Stanley Spencer, although dramatically different, have impressed me deeply….

Rothko

His paintings have a mysterious contemplative quality; a pure emotional experience… the spiritual power of non-objective art Some have observed to witness these paintings is to submit one’s self to a spiritual experience, which, through its transcendence of subject matter, approximates that of consciousness itself.

One is forced to approach the limits of experience and awakens one to the awareness of one’s own existence… confronted with silence and nothingness… in a very curious sense we are aware of our own heartbeat…

To stand before a Rothko painting (for me) is to be aware of ones own aliveness or being.

Stanley Spencer

Spencer was a devout Christian and believed God resided in all things and the miraculous could be found in everyday events. His paintings proclaim that Christ is in all things. In his paintings, Cookham becomes the setting for scenes from the life of Christ and other Christian narratives.

The ordinary and the everyday takes on a different significance.. we are encouraged to
look it through a different lens. ….not always rose-coloured… but a lens that allows us
to make deeper connections we would otherwise not make. Ordinary situations and things take on a greater significance.

Spencer sacralised everything. To contemplate his art is to enter into the deep resonances sacredness in the world…. It is aliveness..

Christ before Pilate by Mark Lewis

Me

I am passionate about drawing and its search for truthfulness. I end here (or perhaps in one sense I begin). We need to acknowledge more than we do that the act of making art as a truly spiritual act. It is also where the heart beats and where I feel most spiritually alive. Engagement with looking is important… but in the act of drawing we can participate in a spiritual process

The words of Ingres are often quoted: “Drawing is the probity of art…” I don’t think that I am the only artist who believes that drawing can be an altered state of consciousness, a form of meditation; a way of evolving to higher levels of awareness.

In the act of drawing, there is a point in time when ones concentration is focussed so intently on the work that time stands still. All distractions disappear. The artists merges with his or her work. One becomes part of the life or spiritual energy of what you draw. In some ways this a very Zen outlook. We draw attentively and we become what we draw. It brings about an intimacy. Seeing and drawing becoming one. It is a kind of love-making. It is a way of loving the world.

Drawing leads you into different kinds of truths (as no doubt painting does). At its best it is always process, a spiritual search with shifting boundaries. Like the religious journey… the journey is in many ways more important than the goal.

My drawing technique searches and often never arrives… line brings form alive but it can also unite and coalesce the deeper meanings of a narrative (e.g. the Stations of the Cross) …

Conclusion

In a very brief and fragmentary way I have tried to discern the ways in which art enlivens me and that this is uniting theme. I can relate to many art forms in this way, particularly landscape. I can relate strongly to the idea of art as prayer (Sister Wendy Beckett speaks of it in these terms).

Contemporary African writer Ben Okri claims that "ALL art is a prayer" and then he adds that it is basically a prayer for spiritual strength. Prayer - difficult though it sometimes is - is a form of communion. A deep engagement. It keeps our spiritual heart beating."

A reconciling vision

Henry Shelton greets Father Steven on behalf of Commission For Mission

Father Steven with a representative from the local Mosque

The Igorot community singing 'Dios Ama Sika Langwa'

Tonight was a celebration of new ministry for Commission For Mission committee member Father Steven Saxby as he was licensed by Bishop David, Commission for Mission's Patron, as Priest-in-Charge of the parish of St Barnabas with St James the Greater, Walthamstow.

Steven has been tremendously supportive of Commission For Mission since its inception. He suggested our name, introduced Henry Shelton's work to the Waltham Forest Deanery, linked us up with St Andrew's Leytonstone, and in September will display Henry's Stations of the Cross in St Barnabas as part of the E17 Art Trail. Henry was among those community representatives welcoming Steven into his new role and did so on behalf of Commission For Mission.

The service was a wonderful reflection of the diversity of the Parish and the strength of Steven's Deanery, ecumenical and inter-faith relationships. He is someone with a vision for reconciling across differences. This is something that has been reflected in his personal choice of artwork for his new Vicarage; a Peace Tryptich by Br. Robert Lentz based on the meeting in 1219 between St. Francis of Assisi and Sultan Malek al-Kamil. A Franciscan flavour also featured in the service as today was the Feast of St Bonaventure and we sang All creatures of our God and king based as it is on St Francis' 'Canticle of the Sun'.

The service included a challenging sermon by the Rt. Revd. Keith Newton, Bishop of Richborough on the need for all Christians to be engaged in mission and move beyond the patronising stereotype of mission as something supported by us for those in other parts of the world. In illustrating these points he recounted Oscar Wilde's comment that missionaries are the divinely provided food for destitute and underfed cannibals as an example of the colonialist mentality towards mission. He also told the joke about the Jehovah Witness who was unable to explain his faith on being invited in to a home and offered tea and cake because he had never got that far before in order to make the point that it wasn't actually true and that Christians should be challenged by the dedication that Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons show in sharing their faith with others.

As Steven faces the challenges of his new role and parish, we echo this prayer from tonight's service: Almighty God, give to your servant Steven grace to fulfil his ministry here. Give him reverence in celebrating the sacraments, faithfulness in proclaiming your Word, diligence in pastoral care, tenderness in comforting, power in healing the wounds of God's people, openness in receiving the ministry of others, and humility, self-sacrifice, and courage in all things. Following the steps of your Son, may he guide your people to eternal joy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Spirituality - the heartbeat of Art? (2)

'The Baptism of Jesus'

A Church Holiday Club set

'Jesus in the Garden'

Rosalind Hore

In the second presentation from the Art & Spirituality networking evening at St Andrews Leytonstone, where three artists addressed the question 'Spirituality - the heartbeat of Art?', Rosalind Hore speaks about her work as the exaggeration of emotion:

Rosalind began her presentation by explaining that she grew up in a Church of Scotland manse and first remembers encountering Christian imagery through the Victorian images of Christ used in Sunday School at the time. She also developed early on a sense of being involved in the Church's year. She studied images of Christ during her sculpture course at Art College and was inspired by Michelangelo, El Greco, and Rodin.

She seeks to express exaggerated emotion in her work through the use of elongated stylized figures, strong colour and sweeping folds, which exaggerate both movement and emotion. She uses Christian symbols frequently in her paintings; flames, waters of baptism, doves, cross etc. Her Stations of the Cross each feature three rose buds as a sign of the Trinity. The Stations of the Cross have been a big influence on her and she has, to date, completed six bas-relief Stations and six paintings.

Her sculptures are all modelled and she works in clay, concrete and plaster. All of her sculptural work can be cast in bronze. Concrete and plaster involve use of an iron armature. Greater detail is possible when working in clay but, when working in concrete or plaster, shapes are simplified and greater use is made of sweeping folds and lines.

Rosalind has also produced a number of functional pieces for Church festivals and to enhance worship. These have included meditative pieces for Good Friday devotions and Festival displays. She retired from art teaching four years ago but, as a Rector's wife, has initiated an Art group at each church they have ministered in. The current group at St Laurence Upminster have a permanent display board in church with a changing display of work to reflect the seasons.

She said that art and faith are why she gets up in the morning and that the whole of her life is involved with these two things.

Rosalind ended by showing images of her work (see representative examples above) and spoke about each piece in terms of its imagery and inspiration. To illustrate the interaction in her work between inspiration and worship she spoke of being inspired to create a Corpus Christi image by paying attention to the priest holding the host and cup during the Eucharist. She said that non-religious themes can also provide a sense of spirituality particularly through the joy in creation of a still life or landscape.

Spirituality - the heartbeat of art? (1)

What follows is the text of Jonathan Evens' presentation in responding to the question 'Spirituality - the heartbeat of Art?' at the Art & Spirituality networking evening held at St Andrews Leytonstone:

"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."

So writes James Elkins at the beginning of a book entitled On the Strange Place of Religion in Contemporary Art. On that basis the answer to tonight’s question would seem to be a resounding “no”. And yet, as Elkins also notes, these attitudes are odd, because there is a tremendous amount of religious art created.

Timothy Potts suggests in Beyond Belief: Modern art and the Religious Imagination, 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.”

“The religious underpinnings of so much Western art before [the twentieth] century – from its subject matter to its sources of patronage and its devotional purposes – are obvious and uncontentious,” he continues, but with the art of the twentieth century the religious dimension becomes “altogether more subtle, often more abstract and inevitably more personal.” Spirituality, while continuing to be pervasive, becomes less obvious and the perception grows that it is “not relevant to the art world.”

My answer to tonight’s question therefore is to point to the pervasiveness of religious and spiritual themes in twentieth century and contemporary Western art and in the remainder of my time that is what I aim to do by giving a whistlestop and inevitably partial tour of these religious themes and some of those artists that have used them.

The catalytic encounter of Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin in Brittany in 1888 resulted in Post Impressionist paintings exploring the Catholic soul of Breton peasants. Bernard and Gauguin shared their new style with Paul Sérusier who, together with fellow art students including Maurice Denis, formed the Nabis.

Denis became one of the most significant artists in the French Catholic Revival, being prominent in the Nabis, as a Symbolist, and, through his Studios of Sacred Art, contributing to a revival of French Sacred Art. Denis’ influence was felt among Symbolists and Sacred Artists in Belgium, Italy, Russia and Switzerland, in particular.

A second circle of influence within the French Catholic Revival gathered around the philosopher Jacques Maritain. His book Art and Scholasticism was influential and he organised study circles for artists and others including the Expressionist Georges Rouault, the Surrealist Jean Cocteau, the Futurist Gino Severini, the Dadaist Otto van Rees and abstract art promoter Michel Seupher. His writings were also significant for the community of artists which formed around the sculptor Eric Gill at Ditchling, which included the artist and poet David Jones. Jones further developed Maritain’s ideas of images as signs in his paintings, poetry and critical writings.

A third circle of influence gathered around cubist pioneer Albert Gleizes, including Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone (who played significant roles in the development of Modern Art in Ireland) and Australian potter Anne Danger. Like Eric Gill at Ditchling, Gleizes formed a Catholic arts colony to further his ideas which embraced both painting and society seeking to identify natural rhythms for both.

A final circle of influence developed around the Dominican Friars, Marie-Alain Couturier and Pie Régamey, who insisted that the Roman Catholic Church call for the great artists and architects of their day to design and decorate its churches. The involvement of artists such as Marc Chagall, Férnand Leger, Le Corbusier, and Henri Matisse in churches such as Assy, Ronchamp and Vence was proof of the effectiveness of their approach and ministry. A similar approach was taken in the UK by George Bell and Walter Hussey which saw artists such as Henry Moore, Graham Sutherland, John Piper, Hans Feibusch and Cecil Collins decorating churches.

Expressionist artists such as Emil Nolde, Christian Rohlfs and Albert Servaes painted biblical scenes with an emotional intensity that was often more than the institutional churches at the time could accept. Georges Rouault added to this expressionist intensity with a compassionate Christian critique of contemporary society. Italian Divisionism and Futurism also included a strong strand of sacred art through artists such as Gaetano Previati, Gerardo Dottori, and Fillia.

Wassily Kandinsky created abstract art by abstracting from apocalyptic biblical images and felt that abstraction was the best means available to artists for depicting an unseen realm. Kasimir Malevich was not only influenced by the tradition of Russian icon painting but also by the underlying principle of icons – the presence of an Absolute in the world – to develop the Suprematist aim of self-transcendence.

Daniel Siedell writes that “for these and many other avant-garde painters well into the twentieth century, including Russian immigrants John Graham and Mark Rothko, modern painting functioned like an icon, creating a deeply spiritual, contemplative relationship between the object and viewer.” The influence also went the other way too, as Abstract Expressionist William Congdon converted to Roman Catholicism and used this style to create deeply expressive crucifixions.

Iconographer, Aidan Hart, notes that a revival of traditional iconography occurred in the twentieth century; led in Greece by Photius Kontoglou, in Russia by Maria Sakalova and Archimandrite Zenon, and in Europe by Leonid Ouspensky and Fr. Gregory Kroug. More surprisingly, a Lutheran tradition of iconography has also developed in Scandanavia led by Erland Forsberg.

Evangelicalism found artistic expression through the folk art of the American South with artists such as Howard Finster and Sister Gertrude Morgan gaining significant reputations. Such artists have often been both naive and visionary in their style, an approach that also characterised the work of New Zealand artist Colin MacCahon and British artist, Albert Herbert.

Other significant visionary artists using Christian themes and imagery have included Stanley Spencer, F.N. Souza, Betty Swanwick, Norman Adams, Roger Wagner and Mark Cazalet.

In response to the growth of Christian Art on the Asian continent, the Asian Christian Art Association was founded in 1978 to encourage the visual arts in Asian churches. Australia encouraged contemporary religious art through the establishment of the Blake Prize in1951. From that date until the present, its judges have chosen as prize winners artists and works which reflect the movement in Modern Art from the figurative to the abstract. Wojciech Wlodarczyk notes that one special aspect of Polish Art in the 1980s was its links with the Roman Catholic Church. Martial law forced the entire artistic community to boycott official exhibition spaces and instead places of worship hosted exhibitions. This period was marked by a profound interest in the whole question of the sacrum in art and was characterised by the work of Jerzy Nowosielski with its thoughts on the nature of religious art.

Finally, on this whistle-stop tour, there has been extensive use of Christian imagery by BritArt artists such as Damien Hirst, Chris Ofili, Mark Wallinger, and Sam Taylor-Wood. In their work, Christian iconography and narrative is often used as a frame for the artist’s critique of contemporary life including politics and culture.

As was argued at the beginning of this talk, issues of religion have been largely overlooked in the social and cultural history of twentieth-century art. As curator and author Daniel Siedell has argued, we need "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."

Networking evening

Helen Gould introducing the Art & Spirituality Networking Evening

The panel for the evening - Mark Lewis, Rosalind Hore and Jonathan Evens

Rosalind Hore

Mark Lewis

Jonathan Evens

Peter Webb & Mark Lewis in discussion

Michael Creasey & Rosalind Hore

Viewing the exhibition

Viewing the exhibition

Viewing the exhibition

Last night's Art & Spirituality networking evening proved an intriguing and stimulating event as we considered the question, 'Spirituality - the heartbeat of Art?'.

Helen Gould, Refresh Project Development Worker, opened the event by welcoming us to St Andrews Leytonstone. The church has a 123 year old history and art has been an indelible part of the buildings life. This event and Commission For Mission's exhibition are launching a creative programme – Reflect – which will run alongside their newly opened café, Refresh. Their intention is to offer a spiritual haven to the local community. As a result, the church has been exploring again how to work with art and how it fits with their Anglo-Catholic tradition.

Helen suggested that God's creativity could be the starting point for that exploration with our hunan creativity understood as being one of ways in which we are made in the image of God. She noted that even John Calvin had acknowledged the Arts as a gift from God. Among the benefits that use of the Arts can bring to churches are the exploration of difficult issues, the revitalisation of worship, and the sense of being brought closer to the Creator God.

The evening continued with presentations from three Commission For Mission artists:

• Rosalind Hore - a sculptor and painter of Christian subjects – Christ figures, nativity sets, Ecce Homo, Stations of the Cross etc. Rosalind works in clay, plaster, concrete (figures can also be bronze cast at the foundry). Her paintings are mostly in acrylic of the events in the life of Christ. Rosalind spoke about her work as the exaggeration of emotion. She reflected on the way in which the medium affects the means by which she conveys emotion; working in clay affords more detail, while working in plaster or concrete requires sweeping lines and folds. She also described her functional work for church festivals and the way in which worship often inspired images and new work.
  
• Mark Lewis - an artist, silversmith, Arts Lecturer at London Metropolitan University and Chair of Faith & Image. Mark has undertaken drawing and painting in a Christian context and has designed and made Church plate. In addition to his lecturing, Mark has delivered workshops for The Big Draw as part of its national launch. Mark spoke about spirituality in art as a sense of aliveness. He highlighted the very different work of Mark Rothko and Stanley Spencer, speaking about the sense of contemplation induced by Rothko's work and the sense of heaven in the ordinary in Spencer's. In speaking of his own work he described his sense of absorption in and fusion with the work as a spiritual experience.

• Jonathan Evens - paints in a symbolic expressionist style and has facilitated the involvement of churches in a range of public art projects. Jonathan's arts journalism has featured in publications including 'Art & Christianity' and 'The Church Times'. He is also a creative writer (meditations, poetry, short stories, and a blog) and the Vicar of St John the Evangelist Seven Kings. Jonathan is the Secretary of Commission for Mission. Jonathan argued that, despite a reluctance among art critics and tutors to note or engage with religious themes and imagery, there is nevertheless a prevalence of religious themes and imagery to be found in modern and contemporary art. He gave a brief and partial alternative history of modern and contemporary art to illustrate this argument and to suggest that this prevalence of themes and images does suggest that spirituality remains a significant inspiration of art.

Their three presentations will be the subject of subsequent posts and led on to vigorous debate which covered the following issues:

• the extent to which spirituality should be the starting point for an artist's work or conversely whether spirituality could emerge from the artist's handling of form;
  
• the extent to which non-religious themes can convey a sense of spirituality;
  
• the extent to which traditional religious iconography still connects with the general public or whether artists should seek to create new imagery and forms for the truths of their faith;
  
• the extent to which the artist bears the potential audience for the work in mind while creating or is absorbed in the work itself without consideration of outside influences;
  
• the extent to which it is better to display spiritual art within churches or out in the public realm;
  
• ways of countering the perceived lack of interest or understanding of spirituality within the art world generally; and
  
• the need for examples of good practice and networks of artists with an interest in both art and spirituality.
  

Leytonstone Festival exhibition

Ivy 1 & Ivy 2 By David Hawkins

Chalice & Paten By Harvey Bradley, Genesis by Michael J. Creasey & Today by Jonathan Evens

Entrance to the church & exhibition showing works by Jonathan Evens, Harvey Bradley & Rosalind Hore

Work by Harvey Bradley (and Rosalind Hore - in background)

Harvey Bradley's pottery

Works by Jonathan Evens & Harvey Bradley

Café Refresh

Michael J. Creasey, Henry Shelton & Helen Gould

Works by Harvey Bradley & Joy Rousell Stone

Henry Shelton & Helen Gould

Harvey Bradley & Michael J. Creasey

Works by Jonathan Evens, Michael J. Creasey & Peter Webb

Works by Henry Shelton & Jonathan Evens

North York Moors by David Hawkins

The Moment of Resurrection by Rosalind Hore

Jesus in the Boat by Rosalind Hore & The Sparrow by Joy Rousell Stone

Our Leytonstone Festival exhibition, which is part of the Leytonstone Art Trail, has been set up today at St Andrews Leytonstone ready for the community opening event on Sunday between 12 noon and 2.00pm. The exhibition, which features work by Harvey Bradley, Michael J. Creasey, Jonathan Evens, David Hawkins, Rosalind Hore, Henry Shelton, Peter Shorer, Joy Rousell Stone and Peter Webb will then be open from Tuesday 7 – Thursday 16 July (Tuesday-Friday: 12-4 pm; Saturday: 10-4pm). The new Café Refresh (see photo above) at St Andrews will also be open for teas, coffees, hot chocolate, light snacks and lunches.

An Art & Spirituality networking evening will be held on 9 July from 7-9.30pm involving presentations from three of our artists on the theme of 'Spirituality - the heartbeat of Art?'. The three artists giving their personal responses to this question will be:

• Rosalind Hore is a sculptor and painter of Christian subjects – Christ figures, nativity sets, Ecce Homo, Stations of the Cross etc. She works in clay, plaster, concrete (figures can also be bronze cast at the foundry). Her paintings are mostly in acrylic of the events in the life of Christ.
  
• Mark Lewis is an artist, silversmith, Arts Lecturer at London Metropolitan University and Chair of Faith & Image. He has undertaken drawing and painting in a Christian context and has designed and made Church plate. In addition to his lecturing, Mark has delivered workshops for The Big Draw as part of its national launch.
  
• Jonathan Evens paints in a symbolic expressionist style and has facilitated the involvement of churches in a range of public art projects. His arts journalism has featured in publications including 'Art & Christianity' and 'The Church Times'. He is also a creative writer (meditations, poetry, short stories, and a blog) and the Vicar of St John the Evangelist Seven Kings. Jonathan is the Secretary of Commission for Mission.

Following their input, the evening will continue with open discussion and debate. All are welcome.