‘With war raging and children dying, and the slow waltz of extremism on our doorstep and within our cities and towns, art can seem ephemeral, unnecessary and the preserve of the lucky few. It may seem indulgent even, and for those of us in city centres and with fancy Wren churches (hashtag Piccadilly Priest), it may seem like a right more than a privilege. But those of us here today do not need to be told that art matters, that it shakes us from slumber, that it keeps us sensitised and sensitive and that it draws us back to question earth-bound mercy, the earth-pretence of who is pure in heart, the earth-renditions of the peacemakers. All of these things are turned upside down by Jesus and all of these things are turned upside down by art’.
This is very, very late ‘Thank You’ to the lovely Jane Chipp, who not only sent me much appreciated photos and kind words during Varnishing Day (I just couldn’t face going) at the Royal Academy of Arts earlier this year, but also posted the notes from the ‘Service For Artists’ (extract above) at St James’s Church on Piccadilly (an annual sermon for exhibitors), given to her its author, the equally lovey (as it turns out) Associate Priest, Mariama Ifode-Bleasein. She is a huge asset to the church, and no mistake.
I get a mention in said service (sort of), ‘For some of you, this will be your first attempt at submitting your work for the Summer Exhibition, for others it will be your thirty-second’.
I’m not a big fan of religions, but Jesus has always seemed like an incorruptible bloke who would make a good job of running the country.
Read the full sermon, ‘The world as it is, is not as the world should be’, below…
