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| Bill Viola video installation heralds new national exhibition space for faith art | Bill Viola video installation heralds new national exhibition space for faith art |
| (4 months later) | |
| Watched by saints in the largest private chapel in Europe in front of a fabulously carved 19th-century oak reredos of martyrs, four modern human figures go through their own tortures. | Watched by saints in the largest private chapel in Europe in front of a fabulously carved 19th-century oak reredos of martyrs, four modern human figures go through their own tortures. |
| A woman is bound by her hands and feet and buffeted in a swirling wind. A man sits serenely on a chair as he’s engulfed in flames. One is drenched in water, the other buried in earth. They are all part of a video installation by Bill Viola in St Peter’s Chapel, Auckland Castle, the former palace of the Prince Bishops of Durham. | A woman is bound by her hands and feet and buffeted in a swirling wind. A man sits serenely on a chair as he’s engulfed in flames. One is drenched in water, the other buried in earth. They are all part of a video installation by Bill Viola in St Peter’s Chapel, Auckland Castle, the former palace of the Prince Bishops of Durham. |
| It is a significant commission. Not only is it the first by a contemporary artist at the castle but it is the inaugural event for much bigger plans – to create a permanent national exhibition space, due to open in 2018, for art exploring faith. | It is a significant commission. Not only is it the first by a contemporary artist at the castle but it is the inaugural event for much bigger plans – to create a permanent national exhibition space, due to open in 2018, for art exploring faith. |
| Chris Ferguson, the castle’s curatorial director, gave staff an early look before the wider public. “People really got in to the message,” he said. “Some people who saw it were deeply moved and others were more interested in it technically … how has he done it? For some there was a gut reaction and for others an intellectual reaction and that is a good thing. It doesn’t matter how many times I watch it I always find something new.” | Chris Ferguson, the castle’s curatorial director, gave staff an early look before the wider public. “People really got in to the message,” he said. “Some people who saw it were deeply moved and others were more interested in it technically … how has he done it? For some there was a gut reaction and for others an intellectual reaction and that is a good thing. It doesn’t matter how many times I watch it I always find something new.” |
| The four video screens have been placed as prominently as possible in St Peter’s Chapel, which is still used by the present Bishop of Durham. Upstairs in a dining room are the castle’s star attractions: Zurbaran’s stupendous and internationally famous paintings of Jacob and his Twelve Sons, painted in the mid-17th century and bought a century later by Bishop Richard Trevor to lecture guests on the importance of tolerance, particularly towards Jewish people living in England. | The four video screens have been placed as prominently as possible in St Peter’s Chapel, which is still used by the present Bishop of Durham. Upstairs in a dining room are the castle’s star attractions: Zurbaran’s stupendous and internationally famous paintings of Jacob and his Twelve Sons, painted in the mid-17th century and bought a century later by Bishop Richard Trevor to lecture guests on the importance of tolerance, particularly towards Jewish people living in England. |
| Thought to be the largest collection of Zurburan’s outside Spain, the paintings were largely unknown and unseen until 1994 when they were shown at the National Gallery and then the Prado in Madrid. They represent the centrepiece of £60m plans to transform Auckland Castle into a major arts and cultural centre, a project being driven Jonthan Ruffer, a locally born city fund manager who bought the castle, estate and the paintings from church commissioners in 2012. | Thought to be the largest collection of Zurburan’s outside Spain, the paintings were largely unknown and unseen until 1994 when they were shown at the National Gallery and then the Prado in Madrid. They represent the centrepiece of £60m plans to transform Auckland Castle into a major arts and cultural centre, a project being driven Jonthan Ruffer, a locally born city fund manager who bought the castle, estate and the paintings from church commissioners in 2012. |
| Last month, Auckland Castle secured £9m Heritage Lottery Fund backing to help create the new museum, which will chronicle 2,000 years of faith in Britain. The Viola, a bespoke edition of a large video work of Martyrs that was installed last year in St Paul’s Cathedral, London, will be the first of further contemporary art commissions for the castle. | Last month, Auckland Castle secured £9m Heritage Lottery Fund backing to help create the new museum, which will chronicle 2,000 years of faith in Britain. The Viola, a bespoke edition of a large video work of Martyrs that was installed last year in St Paul’s Cathedral, London, will be the first of further contemporary art commissions for the castle. |
| Ferguson believes there is more contemporary work exploring faith than people think. “Sometimes people encounter them, if they’ve gone to Baltic or Tate, and they haven’t quite seen the religious theme, they’ve seen the artwork but not seen the religious side to it.” | Ferguson believes there is more contemporary work exploring faith than people think. “Sometimes people encounter them, if they’ve gone to Baltic or Tate, and they haven’t quite seen the religious theme, they’ve seen the artwork but not seen the religious side to it.” |
| The video work is a first in a way, although not the first art work in the chapel, which this year celebrates its 350th anniversary since its consecration. Before the reredos was installed in the late 19th century, an enormous Joshua Reynolds painting of the Resurrection hung there until it was removed on the orders of Bishop Joseph Lightfoot, presumably because it was too cheerful. | The video work is a first in a way, although not the first art work in the chapel, which this year celebrates its 350th anniversary since its consecration. Before the reredos was installed in the late 19th century, an enormous Joshua Reynolds painting of the Resurrection hung there until it was removed on the orders of Bishop Joseph Lightfoot, presumably because it was too cheerful. |
| Astonishingly, the Reynolds painting is now considered lost, probably destroyed. Or could there be a chance it was rolled up and is gathering dust in a loft in the Bishop Auckland area? | Astonishingly, the Reynolds painting is now considered lost, probably destroyed. Or could there be a chance it was rolled up and is gathering dust in a loft in the Bishop Auckland area? |