16 June – late Summer 2010
St Paul’s Cathedral in association with Haunch of Venison is pleased to present two new works by British artist Mark Alexander. Wednesday evening sees the opening of Alexander’s site-specific project at St Paul’s,
part of the cathedral’s ongoing programme exploring the present 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.
www.stpauls.co.uk/
