Mark Alexander exhibition information
Mark Alexander
Red Manheim
as part of the St Paul’s Cathedral Art Project 16 June - late Summer 2010
opening Wednesday 16 June at 6.30pm St Paul’s Cathedral in association with Haunch of Venison is pleased
to present two new works by British artist Mark Alexander. Alexander’s
site-specific project at St Paul’s opened on 16 June as part of the
cathedral’s ongoing programme exploring the relationship between art
and faith. Both works are entitled Red Manheim, paintings at once paying homage
to the original Manheim Cathedral Altarpiece (1739-41) and
re-evaluating the contemporary perception of religious iconography.
The Manheim Cathedral Altarpiece was a seminal example of the German
Rococo style, badly damaged by bombing in the Second World War.
Alexander’s paintings offer an appropriation of, and tribute to the
masterpiece, suggesting melancholy in their deep colouring and sense
of removal from the past. Employing a similar scale and monumentality to the original, the Red
Manheim paintings serve to remind us of the loss and desecration of
icons, and in spite of the ecclesiastical subject matter bring to
attention a secular and ever-relevant concern with the atrocities of
war. The installation at the nave of St Paul’s is especially pertinent
given the cathedral’s spiritual and architectural connection with the
Manheim Cathedral and the reputation of St Paul’s as a symbol of
British defiance during the Blitz. Mark Alexander (b. 1966) is represented by Haunch of Venison. He is
participating in the Summer Exhibition currently showing at the Royal
Academy, London.
Red Manheim
as part of the St Paul’s Cathedral Art Project 16 June - late Summer 2010
opening Wednesday 16 June at 6.30pm St Paul’s Cathedral in association with Haunch of Venison is pleased
to present two new works by British artist Mark Alexander. Alexander’s
site-specific project at St Paul’s opened on 16 June as part of the
cathedral’s ongoing programme exploring the relationship between art
and faith. Both works are entitled Red Manheim, paintings at once paying homage
to the original Manheim Cathedral Altarpiece (1739-41) and
re-evaluating the contemporary perception of religious iconography.
The Manheim Cathedral Altarpiece was a seminal example of the German
Rococo style, badly damaged by bombing in the Second World War.
Alexander’s paintings offer an appropriation of, and tribute to the
masterpiece, suggesting melancholy in their deep colouring and sense
of removal from the past. Employing a similar scale and monumentality to the original, the Red
Manheim paintings serve to remind us of the loss and desecration of
icons, and in spite of the ecclesiastical subject matter bring to
attention a secular and ever-relevant concern with the atrocities of
war. The installation at the nave of St Paul’s is especially pertinent
given the cathedral’s spiritual and architectural connection with the
Manheim Cathedral and the reputation of St Paul’s as a symbol of
British defiance during the Blitz. Mark Alexander (b. 1966) is represented by Haunch of Venison. He is
participating in the Summer Exhibition currently showing at the Royal
Academy, London.
