Artist Chris Gollon, famous for his groundbreaking Stations of the Cross series in the historic St John's Church in Bethnal Green, has returned to the Bible for an exhibition which is touring Britain's cathedrals.
'Incarnation, Mary and Women from The Bible' opened at Guildford Cathedral last year. The response from press and public was such that it has become a major touring exhibition, this year visiting Norwich, Chichester and Durham.
The images are unlike anything else in religious art, and can be disturbing as well as thought-provoking. Gollon plays with shapes and perspectives to create a sense of dislocation in images that are at the same time familiar and human; and he has thought deeply about the biblical context of his figures.
In the 'Madonna of the Apple', for instance, the child Jesus is shown with nail-marks in his hands and feel, and – following a Renaissance tradition – he is drawn as an adult on Mary's lap. 'Job's wife' conveys a sense of sickness and despair as she stands with her children, the victim of someone else's story.
As well as figures such as Salome and Mary Magdalene, Gollon has chosen some women without names in the Bible. He has created new works for each cathedral – for instance for Norwich he has painted 'Julian of Norwich' and 'Madonna of the Apple' following conversations with the cathedral's Canon Librarian, Rev Dr Peter Doll.
In 'The Women of Jerusalem' he depicts them with great psychological depth and as feisty, strong, modern women placed very much to the fore in the scenes from the Bible. He was keen to carry the theme beyond the Bible to paint remarkable women who came later such as St Lucy, who had her eyes gouged out and became the patron saint of the blind.
The exhibition includes paintings on paper and canvas and some of the largest works the artist has ever painted. It is accompanied by a full-colour catalogue with texts by award-winning novelist Sara Maitland, art historian and writer Tamsin Pickeral, Rev Dr Andrew Bishop and Rev Dr Julie Gittoes.
Chris Gollon has exhibited widely and has collaborated with Yoko Ono, David Bowie and Gavin Turk in ROOT, a crossover exhibition of contemporary music and art created by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, at Chisenhale Gallery, London.
He was featured on Alan Yentob's BBC 1 programme Imagine and his work at St John's inspired novelist Sara Maitland's book Stations of the Cross.
Maitland writes of his work: "These are not just powerful, beautiful and moving images; they are also immensely subtle and profound engagements with two of the major historical strands of European iconography.
"They pull women into these dense webs of meaning in a way that is intelligent, truthful and deeply playful – in the most serious sense."
