Image: Detail of Sitting Couple on Bench 1990 by Lynn Chadwick 262 x 303 x 249 cm Courtesy of Lynn Chadwick estate and Pangolin Gallery
Salisbury Cathedral: Celebrating 800 Years
Of Spirit & Endeavour
PROJECT NARRATIVE
The concept for the exhibition Celebrating 800 years of Spirit & Endeavour is inspired by the ordinary people who came together in faith and resolve to achieve something extraordinary, and the exhibition seeks to articulate the potential that humankind has consistently shown over eight centuries.
Salisbury Cathedral was built 800 years ago, taking only 38 years to complete. It is a magnificent Gothic building set in the UK’s largest Cathedral Close. The multimedia exhibition marked the 800thanniversary of the Cathedral’s move from Old Sarum to its present site and the development of the city of Salisbury.
The concept for the exhibition Celebrating 800 years of Spirit & Endeavour is inspired by the ordinary people who came together in faith and resolve to achieve something extraordinary, and the exhibition seeks to articulate the potential that humankind has consistently shown over eight centuries. Collectively the works explore the human condition in many different ways, seeking to understand what it is about people and faith that can inspire great vision and creativity.
The exhibition brought together work from some of the most significant and influential artists of the 20th and 21st century, including Sir Antony Gormley, Shirazeh Houshiary, Henry Moore, Grayson Perry, Conrad Shawcross, Stanza and Mark Wallinger.
Printed + online publication
We produced a fully illustrated 90 page printed catalogue for the book shop. Made available for free viewing on the Cathedral website. Forward by Jacquiline Creswell and essay by Sandy Nairne.
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Video introduction
2 minute video introduction was produced, using stunning drone footage of outside and inside installations. Video is available via the Cathedral website and Youtube.
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Virtual tour
Employing the latest technology, we produced a high quality virtual reality tour, specialist equipment was used to photograph the entire installation, available to explore online.
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Virtual tour photographed by Patrick Price. Head above the clouds.
Image:
Death of a Working Hero, 2016 by Grayson Perry.
Tapestry, 251 x 200 cm.
Courtesy of the artist, Paragon Press and Osborne Samuel Gallery.
This collection was shown alongside sculptures by Dame Elisabeth Frink and Dame Barbara Hepworth from the Cathedral’s permanent collection. I also commissioned new works by Daniel Chadwick and Bruce Munro.
Three years in the planning this exhibition was a major commitment on the part of the cathedral for its anniversary year, so the Corona virus lockdown was a bitter blow. My colleagues and I began a race against time to complete a most challenging and complex installation and managed to install 19 of the 20 works before we had to close the doors of the Cathedral. But in the true spirit celebrated by the exhibition we managed to launch an interactive virtual exhibition exactly eight centuries to the day after the first foundation stones were laid. The virtual exhibition and virtual family tour was visited by over 35 000 people all over the world.
“On its most basic level, the exhibition may be treated as a chance to tick off several of our most famous names, Henry Moore, Grayson Perry and Antony Gormley among them. But to leave it at that would be to miss the point because the deeper interest of this show lies not in the works in isolation, but the way they respond to their setting and situation.” She added, “Another piece not to miss – although it would be easy- is Gormley’s Grip(Net). The title hardly sounds tempting. And neither ostensibly is the sculpture: just another in a series that maps out the body with patterns of polygonal cells. Yet this one is different. Perched high on the scissor arch above the transept, it is barely visible until suddenly you spot it, fragile as a gossamer and, like a cobweb beaded with dew, set aglitter by light. It seems almost to tremble amid the space that surrounds it: a three-dimensional stainless-steel drawing that now maps out the incommensurable. Here is an angel for our modern world.”
Selected works
Stairway, 2007 by Danny Lane. Glass and Steel 600 x 190 x 418 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Formation I (Dappled Light of the Sun), 2015. Weathering Steel 792.1 x 792.1 x 475 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Victoria Miro Gallery
Grip (net), 2019 by Antony Gormley. 0.15 square section stailess steel bar. 193 x 48.5 x 38 cm Courtesy of the artist.
Crucifixion 8, 1985-86 by Craigie Atchison. Oil on Canvas 221 x 188 cm Courtesy of Piano Nobile Gallery
When Soak Becomes Spill, 2008 by Subodh Gupta. Stailess Steel 600 x 300 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth Gallery
Skystation, 2005 by Peter Newnham. Fiberglass with coloured gel-coat. 75 x 420 420 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Daedalus, 1990 by Eduardo Paollozzi. Bronze with brown patina. 157 x 54 x 40 cm Courtesy of Osborne Samuel Gallery.
In the Press
Jonathan Jones in The Guardian chose the exhibition in: From Llandudno to Stromness: 10 of the best hidden gem art galleries. Salisbury Cathedral is No 1 on his list.
— The Guardian
“Modern art in an 800-year-old setting, Salisbury Cathedral is known for many things- the tallest church spire in the UK, the best surviving copy of the Magna Carta, the oldest working clock in the world-but not, perhaps its art. Yet when I visited with my partner in July, the modern art on display in the medieval surroundings was breath-taking.”
— Rachel Dixon
Spirit & Endeavour exhibition has been shortlisted for UK exhibition of the year 2020 by the Museum + Heritage awards
The Guardian chose the exhibition for a feature: 20 writers on their 2020 discoveries. Unusual finds in an extraordinary year.
— The Guardian
“Celebrating 800 years of Spirit and Endeavour is now no longer just about the exhibition and the works included, but also the story of how shared humanity and capacity to create and endure has been expressed in the response those involved have made to the constraints of lockdown. In this way they have not only celebrated 800 years of spirit and endeavour, but added a new chapter to that story. As Creswell says, whether online or offline, ‘this exhibition encourages viewers to look forward with hope”
— Artlyst. Salisbury Cathedral 800 Years Of Art And Spirit by Reverend Jonathan Evans
Henry Moore - Large Reclining Figure, 1983. Fibreglass, unique, edition of 1. 340 × 900 × 310 cm
Photography by Ash Mills and Zachary Culpin