May 10, 2007
Painter Georges Roualt – one of many artists displayed in this exhibition of Christian art – was once told “art can lead to religion…the kind that elevates the soul”. So will your soul be elevated by this exhibition? Yes and no.
Graham Sutherland’s Deposition, a broad-beamed cross spreading over a painfully spike-limbed Christ, sets something of a tone – an emphasis on images of pain and death. Another famous name, Eric Gill, is represented by his Annunciation, a small-scale work in mirror-image: it reveals an under-represented focus on clarity and hope.
The works of Francis Hoyland are eye-catching – a central panel in each shows a moment from Christ’s life and, around it, panels of personal or contemporary resonance. In Nativity Polyptich, Joseph and Mary rest with Jesus while adjacent panels depict Herod’s pursuit with tanks. By contrast, his Holy Communion Pedilla frames a celebration of the Eucharist with images from his own family life, symbolizing the ‘cradle-to-grave-and-beyond’ centrality of Jesus.
Eularia Clarke's Feeding the Five Thousand, a quirky fusion of Stanley Spencer and Beryl Cook, features a fish-and-chip picnic – the hands of a preacher, resting on a pulpit, being the only clue to the spiritual setting. Indeed many of the works address their subjects obliquely; note-cards reveal an evident working-out of doubt or of highly-personalized abstractions of Christianity.
Combined with an occasional imprecision in execution, the effect of some is more neutral than elevating. Peter Rogers’ The Ascension looks, from afar, like a huge image of the World Cup – until you step closer and see it’s an energizing flow of light, with Christ within.
Few, though, focus on the joy of the Christian experience. Jyoti Sahi’s Dalit Madonna is perhaps the most peaceful - a verdant circle of salvation, the Madonna cradling the saviour. Georges Roualt’s two crucifixion scenes come closest to suggesting the serenity won by the cross, rather than the pain of its winning.
John Reilly’s Cain and Abel contains the polarities of this exhibition: the pastoral peace of Abel and the twisted nature of Cain. Edward Burra’s Pool of Bethsaida picks up the latter, as ape-faced, de-featured monsters loom toward a pool of healing – only you see no healing, only a slightly-less ape-faced Christ. Bosch would have done it differently.
Short on symbol or colour, this exhibition will pander to your views on modern art and perhaps of Christianity. Norman Adams’ naïve Christ’s Entry Into Jerusalem is hung alongside some Sunday school work – and it’s hard to tell the difference. But there are some deft works: Michael Edmonds’ The Cross Over the City is a collage and mosaic of a housing estate with queuing traffic forming an embracing, definitive cross.
A welcome exhibition, then, but not as elevating as you might expect. Pity too that Oxford’s own Christian artist Roger Wagner is not included: his creativity, faith and vision are sorely missing.
Graham Sutherland’s Deposition, a broad-beamed cross spreading over a painfully spike-limbed Christ, sets something of a tone – an emphasis on images of pain and death. Another famous name, Eric Gill, is represented by his Annunciation, a small-scale work in mirror-image: it reveals an under-represented focus on clarity and hope.
The works of Francis Hoyland are eye-catching – a central panel in each shows a moment from Christ’s life and, around it, panels of personal or contemporary resonance. In Nativity Polyptich, Joseph and Mary rest with Jesus while adjacent panels depict Herod’s pursuit with tanks. By contrast, his Holy Communion Pedilla frames a celebration of the Eucharist with images from his own family life, symbolizing the ‘cradle-to-grave-and-beyond’ centrality of Jesus.
Eularia Clarke's Feeding the Five Thousand, a quirky fusion of Stanley Spencer and Beryl Cook, features a fish-and-chip picnic – the hands of a preacher, resting on a pulpit, being the only clue to the spiritual setting. Indeed many of the works address their subjects obliquely; note-cards reveal an evident working-out of doubt or of highly-personalized abstractions of Christianity.
Combined with an occasional imprecision in execution, the effect of some is more neutral than elevating. Peter Rogers’ The Ascension looks, from afar, like a huge image of the World Cup – until you step closer and see it’s an energizing flow of light, with Christ within.
Few, though, focus on the joy of the Christian experience. Jyoti Sahi’s Dalit Madonna is perhaps the most peaceful - a verdant circle of salvation, the Madonna cradling the saviour. Georges Roualt’s two crucifixion scenes come closest to suggesting the serenity won by the cross, rather than the pain of its winning.
John Reilly’s Cain and Abel contains the polarities of this exhibition: the pastoral peace of Abel and the twisted nature of Cain. Edward Burra’s Pool of Bethsaida picks up the latter, as ape-faced, de-featured monsters loom toward a pool of healing – only you see no healing, only a slightly-less ape-faced Christ. Bosch would have done it differently.
Short on symbol or colour, this exhibition will pander to your views on modern art and perhaps of Christianity. Norman Adams’ naïve Christ’s Entry Into Jerusalem is hung alongside some Sunday school work – and it’s hard to tell the difference. But there are some deft works: Michael Edmonds’ The Cross Over the City is a collage and mosaic of a housing estate with queuing traffic forming an embracing, definitive cross.
A welcome exhibition, then, but not as elevating as you might expect. Pity too that Oxford’s own Christian artist Roger Wagner is not included: his creativity, faith and vision are sorely missing.