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Extract

 

The Turin Shroud, another of the great icons of Christian art, could be described as the first  photographic image of the Passion. This was evoked at what was for me the most interesting exhibition of the three, at St Pancras Church near Friends House, whose crypt, now used as an art gallery, is always worth keeping an eye on. Andrew Rafferty's photographs of the Stations of the Cross, Passion, take us on a long journey from 'Conspiracy', all listening ears and gabbling tongues, to 'Hope?', his own video version of the photographic image on the Shroud. The spooky crypt, with its dark corners and unexpected viewpoints, is a perfect setting. For Rafferty, the Last Supper is a spare round white table, against which all we see are the demanding, gesticulating hands.

 

The model in all the photographs is Rafferty himself; it is the visual equivalent of that recommended technique for doing Bible study, imagining yourself in turn as each of the characters in the story. In their different ways all these works help one turn from viewer to participant, which is surely what Easter is all about.

 

 

First published in The Friend

© Rowena Loverance

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