Making you think and reflect
Wells Cathedral is hosting an eclectic and exciting exhibition organised by Wells Art Contemporary, including 29 site-specific installations. Andrea Cowan visits
Founded in 2012, Wells Art Contemporary (Wac) is an open art competition which is gaining international recognition. In the first year, Kate noble (who is sadly no longer with us), had the original idea, and attracted over 800 submissions. She was respected and liked across the South West, and a panel of well-recognised selectors along with a first prize at a London exhibition all contributed to its success.
A decade later and the competition has attracted 3,200 entries from 49 countries, with 123 artworks selected to be displayed in a dedicated gallery in Wells Cathedral cloisters, showcasing different mediums, from painting and drawing to photography and sculpture.
It’s the perfect setting as Paddy o’hagan, Wac chair, explains: “For centuries, cathedrals have been inextricably connected to art, be it stonemasonry, glass work, music or the architecture itself.”
This year’s Wac exhibition is made up of this gallery of artwork plus 29 site-specific installations that are located throughout the cathedral and gardens. And it’s perhaps the installations that make this such a unique visit.
By its very nature, an installation is art that has been created to fit into its surroundings. The magnificent Wells Cathedral provided inspiration aplenty for the 300-plus artists who submitted proposals.
one of the installation curators, Lee Hooker, explains in the catalogue introduction: “Installations wield the power to engulf the senses in a myriad ways, factoring in profound changes in atmospheric sound or light that beckon the beholder to share the illusion of space.” Two highly distinguished Wac selectors were tasked with deciding which of the entries successfully fulfilled the brief of reflecting the architectural, spatial and spiritual aspects of Wells Cathedral. Clare Burnett, president of the Royal Society of Sculptors, and Jacquiline Creswell, an experienced curator of cathedral spaces, consequently selected works that will provide the visitor with a truly immersive exploration of the environment.
“The installations provide a captivating reinterpretation of Wells Cathedral, selected to make you think and reflect,” says Paddy.
Lee acknowledges that you might stand “in awe – or anger – before each installation. even disengagement is still a sensory choice”.
It’s a challenge that I
We believe in the power of art to make positive social change, lift our spirits and bring joy to our lives – something that is needed now more than ever. Paddy O’hagan, chair of Wac
was delighted to take up, accompanied by Lee, and I was grateful for her fascinating insights.
Safe Haven by Jane Jobling is a large, delicate recreation of a wasp’s nest suspended in the cathedral entrance. Made from paper pulp and seemingly fragile, it tones beautifully with the medieval stonework and looks as though it is part of the fabric of the building.
“The multiple layers echo the mathematics of the architecture of the cathedral with a structure that is equally stunning in its intricacy and simplicity,” Jane explains. The piece also pays homage to the value of collaboration; both constructions only exist because of the skill and workmanship of either cathedral masons or humble insects.
Artist Nessie Ramm has created two signposts which are copies of real signs from locations close to the cathedral, painted with oil on steel and adorned with flowers and plants that are found growing around them. The one that you encounter at the entrance to the cloisters, Wells Five Miles, is from the roundabout near Mendip Community Hospital. The second is Pay At Meter, a copy of a sign in one of the city’s car parks.
Nessie explains the significance of her two pieces: “They celebrate the unsung beauty of road verges and their ecological value as corridors connecting habitats.”
And what of the significance to the cathedral? Road signs are the traveller’s friend.
“Pilgrims to Wells Cathedral over the centuries probably saw the same plants along the way that we still see in the verges today,” she adds.
In the North Transept, beneath the clock, is a tall textile sculpture. Hope Emerging by Tara Kennedy represents the artist’s despair arising from cultural and religious conflict. Bloodcoloured tension knots and hanging knitted lengths of mixed yarns and fabrics cascade down, graduating through colour tones, to new loose and unrestricted ivory strands of hope. Tara felt compelled to “communicate important messages of unity, empathy and hope. It is possible through understanding these messages that there could be more harmonious outcomes”.
At the other end of the material spectrum is artist Paul Bonomini’s galvanised steel tubing installation, L’ascensione. Working its way up the Chapter House steps, this is a physical expression of man’s struggle for enlightenment. Paul explains: “The third-century Christian scholar, Origen Adamntius, interpreted the Ascension story in a mystical way, as an ascension of the mind rather than the body.”
The impressive piece starts with four twisting paths of tubing which slowly unwind as it rises up the stairs.
“In my sculpture, the mind is represented as a tangle of convoluted pipes ascending the steps to the Chapter House. A maelstrom of overlapping thoughts, dreams, ideas jostle together, gradually resolving into a single thread of clarity.”
Suspended in the South Transept is Hostile by Deborah Davies, incorporating plastic pigeon spikes attached to a twisting plastic tubing structure and illuminated with violet light. Taking inspiration from hostile architecture with a message of “not you, not here”, it is juxtaposed with the cathedral as a place synonymous with inclusivity and upholding the sanctity of life. “Not withstanding its visual reference to the Crown of Thorns,” says Deborah.
For a complete contrast, situated in the Camery Garden is a joyous oversized flower installation called If Not Now, When? by Jenna Fox. It uses flowers and herbs connected to Wells Cathedral, which can be seen depicted in the carvings, stained glass windows and embroidery. Roses, in particular, are an important symbol in Christianity, identified with the Virgin Mary and leading to the creation of the rosary. Describing her visit to the cathedral, Jenna explains: “I was drawn to the garden spaces that gave me the opportunity for quiet contemplation and reflection.”
She hopes visitors will pause among the flowers and herbs that surround the cathedral to metaphorically “smell the roses”.
The joy of this exhibition is that everyone will find something that they are really drawn to. For me, Everyone was Bird by Caro Williams struck a chord. Suspended in the porch to the Friends Building, this remarkable installation “is inspired by birds whose songs we no longer hear plus birds whose songs are in danger of being lost such as the skylark, nightingale and song thrush,” says Caro.
The title is from a line in Siegfried Sassoon’s First World War poem, Everyone Sang, which recalls voices and song we no longer hear. Caro brings this together with the images of prayer beads, the visual recreation of sound waveforms from a moment in a dawn chorus and a QR code providing a personal sound experience of birdsong recordings. It is mesmerising.
“Contemporary art is produced by artists who are living in our time: and this is a particularly testing and fascinating period of history. The exhibition reflects that in all its multifaceted glory,” concludes Paddy.
“We believe in the power of art to make positive social change, lift our spirits and bring joy to our lives – something that is needed now more than ever.”
The organisers want to attract the widest range of exhibitiongoers and make it as accessible as possible. For anyone unsure whether contemporary art is for them, or for a more informative visit, there are free guided tours led by exhibiting artists. These take place each Saturday through August from 11am to noon. A virtual exhibition is available to view at www. wellsartcontemporary.co.uk. You’ll also find further details and prices of all the artwork online. The exhibition runs until August 28.