Bath Abbey says it’s delighted to present the iconic sculpture ‘The Crucifixx’ (1976) by Michael Kenny, one of the most influential British sculptors of the 20th century.
On loan from the RA, this extraordinary work will be on display in the Abbey’s sanctuary during Lent, from Tuesday 4th March until Thursday 24th April.
Alan Garrow, Vicar Theologian at Bath Abbey explained why the piece is so special especially at this time of year.
He said: “We are privileged to show Michael Kenny’s Crucifixx in Bath Abbey this Lent. It is a work that draws the viewer into the profound private meditations of the sculptor and it is impossible not to be touched by the simple honesty of this remarkable sculpture.”
“Crucifixx looks hurriedly assembled from off-cuts – the scraps of wood remaindered on a workshop floor. To the soldiers who executed Jesus his death was not something that required thought or care – it was just an ugly ‘everyday’ event. Set in the sanctuary of Bath Abbey this ‘ordinary’ object becomes part of a richer and more expansive story.
“Here, that which was thrown away has become central; that which was temporary has become permanent; that by which humans are torn apart has become the means by which they are restored to wholeness. But, it is too easy to jump to the end of the story. This sculpture holds us in, and makes us wrestle with, a place of desolation and seeming worthlessness.”
Kenny’s ‘The Crucifixx’ is a precursor to the artist’s ‘Stations of the Cross, 1998-99’, a series of drawings completed just before Kenny’s death in 1999, and described as one of the finest examples of genuinely religious art within the Christian tradition, made since the Reformation.
While ‘The Crucifixx’ is on display at the Abbey, Kenny’s last major series of drawings ‘The Stations of the Cross, 1998-99’ can be seen at Quest Gallery, Margarets Buildings, Bath.
This will be the first time ever that both works will be on public view simultaneously in Bath. It also marks a very special occasion for the artist’s widow, Susan Kenny, as Michael’s estate has recently been moved from London to Bath and is now under the care of Quest Gallery.
Maggie Steele from Quest Gallery said: “Although both the ‘Crucifixx’ sculpture and the drawings are on loan from the Royal Academy of Arts, these have not been on public display for a number of years. We’re thrilled and honoured that the artist’s widow, Susan, has chosen Bath and in particular, Quest Gallery and the Abbey, to show these major pieces together for the first time since Kenny died in 1999.
“Together they are a powerful reminder of his work and also how influential he was as an artist. He has a passionate following and can count his former students, including artists such as Antony Gormley and Damien Hirst, as fans.”
In 2007, Antony Gormley said: “Michael was a kind and open-minded tutor to me. The way that drawing informed both his sculpture and work on paper was very unusual. I admire the quiet reticence of his work. How he identifies the location of things: how bodies and objects might share a place, but never illustrating it or them. I like the way that he allows the means of sculpture: plumb bobs, plaster, rough-cut timber to be the subject and invites us to share their register of time.”
To celebrate the installation of ‘The Crucifixx’, there will be a private viewing at Bath Abbey on Thursday 6th March 2014.
Doors open at 6.15pm and there will be a talk at 6.25pm by Brian Falconbridge (former president of The Royal Society of Sculptors) followed by drinks with piano accompaniment – Haydn’s ‘The Seven Last Words of Christ’. All are welcome, please RSVP [email protected].
