Damien Hirst and Bill Viola are to exhibit ‘important’ new works in St Paul’s Cathedral
Since the beginning of time, religion and art have always formed a close partnership.
It begins within the Bible in the book of Exodus chapters 25 to 30 where we find a form of divine patronage whereby God Himself commissions the Israelites to create certain forms of art for his glory.
Religious subject matter has always been central to works of historic art and although over the course of time we may think that this has ceased to be the case, I happen to share the sentiments of Rev. Charles Erlandson (see quote below) in that all art, whether we like it or not, is primarily a means of worship.
“We must recognize that art is always religious in nature. This should in no way be considered a shocking or exaggerated claim, since it is clear that all of life is inherently religious. Men may or may not acknowledge their religious nature, just as they may or may not acknowledge their Creator, and the art they produce may or may not be consistent with their religious beliefs. Nevertheless, all art is religious. Whether we are considering a Shakespeare play, a Seurat painting, or a Cage non-composition, all art reflects a certain worldview, which is to say a certain religion. This means that art is not neutral. Something is being asserted about God and the world He has made, and that ‘something’, measures up to varying degrees to what God Himself has revealed to us. Therefore, we have a clear motive for care in selecting the art with which to adorn our environments.” Rev. Charles Erlandson
I therefore found it particularly exciting when I read about the Anglican Church commissioning two great artists to create contemporary works of art for St. Pauls Cathedral, in London.
Artists are a vital part of the body of Christ and despite some backlash seen in articles such as in the Spectator about the appropriateness of a Hirst in a place of worship http://www.spectator.co.uk/essays/5317261/should-st-pauls-host-a-hirst.thtml and about the artists himself as being more interested in money than our own mortality http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/hrst-j26.shtml, I think any artist creating any type of work for the glory of God is to be applauded. Who are we to say who can and cannot produce work, and who for?
St Paul’s is an iconic monument built to glorify God, an integral part of the London skyline, a symbol of the hope, resilience and strength of the city and nation it serves.
Its rich and diverse history mean that many visitors come to the Cathedral and will be able to marvel at many different aspects of the building including new work from one of our country’s most renowned artists.
The cathedral, designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the 17th century, has already hosted temporary installations by living artists including Yoko Ono and Rebecca Horn.
After the unveiling of Hirst’s work in November of this year, Canon Martin Warner, Treasurer of St Paul’s Cathedral, hopes the cathedral will raise sufficient funds to host a rolling programme of art installations at St Paul’s.
“There is a range of contemporary artists today who are saying fascinating things in their art and we would never prejudge whether or not a proposal to include them in the floor of the cathedral would meet a positive or a negative response,” he says.
“The huge numbers of people that visit Tate on the opposite side of the Millennium Bridge from us are an indication of that fascination with…how you can express what is intangible but real and that comes very close to what Christian faith is all about. Art today captures people’s imagination in a way that perhaps narrative discourse doesn’t”
The cathedral is also currently trying to raise funds for the production, installation, and maintenance of plasma screens for a video project by American artist Bill Viola, which could cost around £2m. This ‘altarpiece’ would consist of a couple of giant multi-screen installations on the themes of Mary and the martyrs which would be mounted on hinged panels allowing them to be switched off and closed during services. An application for subsidy is expected to be made to The Arts Council.
Canon Warner says, “St Paul’s has no external funding; we get no government funding and no central church funding. We just manage to cover the costs of running the cathedral as it is…so any art project is dependent on being grant funded and dependent on fund raising.”
Both artists have previously made works of art using religious references. Bill Viola exhibited a video entitled ‘The Messenger’ originally produced for Durham Cathedral in 1996 to great acclaim.
Damien Hirst a self-confessed lapsed Catholic, examined God and religion in a 2003 show at the White Cube gallery, which featured a cow cut in half, entitled ‘Prodigal Son’. It also featured a piece called ‘Jesus And The Disciples’ - which comprised 13 glass tanks including a severed cow’s head with metal instruments sticking out – and a dove in a glass cabinet called ‘The Ascension Of Jesus’. Other works by Hirst that refer to religion include his infamous diamond-encrusted skull, ‘For The Love Of God’.
It is also not the first time the artist has exhibited in a church. In 2007 he had a show at All Hallows in the City, and I can’t wait till the unveiling this time round of the unknown piece which hopefully won’t be too contentious…
