Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury "Outstanding and very moving work. I hope it will speak to many."
Rt Revd Desmund Tutu "Wonderfully creative - The Journey has such considerable healing potential."
Canon Andrew Clitherow of Blackburn Cathedral. “This major and permanent exhibition of modern art is probably the most adventurous of its kind in any English cathedral.”
Rt Rev Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham "Remarkable."
David Ward, The Guardian Newspaper 25th March 2005 "Football and fine art rarely go together, but Blackburn Rovers FC has sponsored one of a series of portraits of the anguished Christ installed in Blackburn Cathedral, Lancashire, in time for Easter "
Dean of Blackburn, the Very Rev Christopher Armstrong. “The Stations will be of national significance and compliment the already impressive stock of modern art at the Cathedral.”
BLACKBURN CATHEDRAL - THE JOURNEY
The Journey: Stations of the Cross
A permanent installation in Blackburn Cathedral – "The most significant contemporary artistic commission in any church in the land"
Photograph of the launch of the new Stations of the Cross, 19th March 2005; speech by the Dean
The Background...
Blackburn Cathedral as the Cathedral of Lancashire stands in the heart of multicultural East Lancashire. It has been a cathedral since 1926. Its foundation as a parish church dates back to 596, and the present building is a much-extended Georgian Gothic Parish Church of 1826. The cathedral has a small but impressive collection of 20th and 21st century modern art. The most recent commission was the massive 8m in diameter external sculpture on the east end of the cathedral completed in 2000 by Mark Jalland entitled, “The Healing of the Nations”. The Dean and Chapter chose this theme in the hope it would resonate not only with the Christian Community but also with those of other Faiths.
Initiating the Project
In reflecting on how they moved on and enhance the Cathedral with additional art, the Dean and Chapter came into contact with Penny Warden when acting as host to her Phoenix paintings in February 2003. On seeing these pieces they were convinced that a major work by Penny on a theme set by the Chapter would be a great asset to the task the Chapter has set itself, to open the Cathedral to as wide a cross-section of the community as possible, and for it to be a focus of unity to all people of faith.
Jesus is nailed to the cross
The project comprises of 15 oil paintings on 6 ft canvasses of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus. They will be permanently hung on the walls of the cathedral to form a ‘walking route’ to follow the way of the cross with Christ on his final journey. They have been painted in such a way that the elements contained in each will challenge and speak to all who view them.
Characteristics of the Paintings
Penny writes, "My aim in painting these Stations was to translate the familiar images of Christ’s final journey of trial, condemnation and eventual crucifixion, into a new arrangement of colour and form. I reduced the images to a minimum, to one lone(ly), life-size and faceless figure so that the viewer - instead of just observing a past event of someone else’s story - could enter instead into a dialogue with this figure. Whilst the stations are rooted in an historical event they speak universally of the human condition. ‘The Journey’ of Christ to his inevitable death is symbolic of all who suffer.
Jesus in the tomb
The vibrant colours of each station have been chosen carefully depending on what it was depicting and also the physical location of the painting in the cathedral. The first station is predominantly purple suggesting the royalty of Christ and the robe given to him by his accusers. This theme of purple carries on through each painting mainly in a crown of thorns and in Christ’s wounds.
There is a notable absence of any cross in the paintings, although it is strongly implied in each and the viewer is encouraged to look for it. The lack of a cross may enable the paintings to reach out to as wide an audience as possible. However more importantly, it is to convey to the viewer that suffering is not only caused by external factors or is imposed by others, but it is also an inner experience, inseparable from life. The paintings try to speak of the anguish of human life and of our feelings of abandonment and alienation.
Importantly a 15th Station was added - the Resurrection. This is rare, as traditionally the Stations end with Jesus being laid in the tomb. However this series of paintings aims to express the Christian hope, and that which survives the desolation and destruction of human suffering, namely the human spirit. As St Paul writes, “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair; persecuted but not mistaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”'"