Exhibition
Art at the church"A dialogue" - St Lukes Church
“A dialogue” contemporary art exhibition celebrating life and death by artist Richard Bagguley When the Reverend Dr Brian Leathard saw an unusual painting of Jesus exhibited at the Chelsea Arts Club, he asked to meet artist Richard Bagguley and thus began an unlikely collaboration.
The canvas depicts Jesus dressed in a loincloth on the Northern Line tube with his arms around two commuters buried in their newspapers oblivious of his existence, as are those up and down the carriage.The response to using the paintings for the basis of his sermons at Holy Week prompted the fearless reverend to invite Bagguley to stage an exhibition at St Luke's, the beautiful period Anglican church in the heart of Chelsea.
Bagguley is known for his uncompromising images of today’s society and the church will be invaded for two weeks at the end of October by thought-provoking images of, for example, Jade Goody as a saint, football fans with raised fists, Neo- Nazis, and a 5ft by 8ft contemporary crucifixion.
Other artists/performers will also be invited to take part with their interpretations of the theme.
The principle works are of religious juxtapositions. The crucifixion scene was painted from a photograph taken at a live 'happening', which was snapped by the press and appeared in newspapers around the world. Other paintings put Christ or the Virgin Mary in modern settings, some of these have been staged live to witness and capture the response from the public. Bagguley described introducing a fully robed Christ to 200 chanting football fans during the World Cup as one of the most frightening moments of his life.
By contrast, the remaining paintings deal with complex scenes, such as Buddhist and Carmelite monks sharing space with racist thugs.
