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Fool of God (Christ in the Garden), 1993

Mark Cazalet (b.1964)

Oil on paper, 18 x 18 cm. Methodist Modern Art Collection, MCMAC: 009

Image Copyright © Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes. The Methodist Church Registered Charity no. 1132208

Biblical commentary

Luke 22:39–44

The title refers to the Russian idea of ‘Holy Fools’, who ‘set God’s will above worldly wisdom, even to the point of martyrdom’.

Cazalet portrays Jesus with a single serpentine brush stroke. The reddy-brown contrasts with the greens and olives of the spare landscape. He seeks to capture the ‘moment of (Christ’s) most profound incarnation, fully in dread at the fate he knew would come as a man, yet faithful and obedient in his divine fulfilment of the sacrifice’.

These two biblical paintings (see also Nathaniel), from December 1993 to January 1994, result from Cazalet’s daily meditations. He sought to show the kernel of each Bible story and convey what God was trying to reveal through the character’s situation, the universal truths behind the familiar drama.  The impact is heightened by the small scale which, using hand-made paper with a cockled surface, gives a rich precious feel and creates a powerful summary of each subject.

Commentary based on A Guide to the Methodist Art Collection.

Artist biography

Born: London, UK, 1964

Education

Mark Cazalet studied at Chelsea School of Art (1982-83) and Falmouth School of Art (1983-86). He won awards which allowed him to study at L'Ecole des Beaux Arts (Christian Boltanski’s Atelier) in Paris and at Baroda University, India.

Life and Career

Cazelet produces secular work and is known for his derelict London townscapes. but he has undertaken a large number of religious works which reflect his own faith. His commissions for art in churches include: the Stations of the Cross in the Church of the Good Shepherd, Brighton (1992); the Millennium window in Worcester Cathedral (1999); and the Donald English Memorial Window, God as Fire, at Wesley's Chapel, London in 2003. (The Revd Dr Donald English, CBE, 1930-1998, was a prominent Methodist minister and leader). Around the same time, he produced a large mural, The Tree of Life (2003-04) for Chelmsford Cathedral. The Tree of Life was shortlisted for the ACE (Art + Christianity) Award for Art in a Religious Context. In 2020 he produced nine linocuts for Canterbury Diocese’s Novena Prayers and stained-glass windows for Our Lady of Fatima Church, White City. He said of his 1992 Stations of the Cross series that ”The choice of my subject matter is an expression of my own faith. I hope to convey something of the deep mystery of the passion”. The two works in the Methodist Modern Art Collection were painted as a result of Cazelet’s daily meditations on the Bible and his desire not just to illustrate particular stories but to get to the kernel of each story, to convey what God was trying to reveal through the character’s situation, the universal truths behind the familiar drama.

In 2012-13 Cazalet was artist in residence at The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Connecticut. He currently teaches at West Dean College, East Sussex and is a Senior Faculty Member of The Royal Drawing School in London.

Cazalet is part of a group of Christian artist friends: Roger Wagner, Tom Denny, Richard Webb and Nicholas Mynheer (also represented in the Collection). They meet regularly to support each other, conscious of the counter-cultural nature of producing work motivated by Christianity. They produce work for churches, not as stand-alone items, but seeking to integrate their work with the Church, liturgically, sacramentally and theologically.

Exhibitions and collections

Cazalet had solo exhibitions at the Arts Centre Group, Waterloo, London and Gallery 7 in Bombay, but his first major exhibition in London was at Christopher Hull Gallery in 1992. Since then, he has exhibited in the Museum of London (1998); the Dissenters’ Chapel, Kensal Green Cemetery (2000); and Six Chapel Row Contemporary Arts, Bath (2001). He continues to exhibit in major regional and international shows.

Collections holding his work include the Museum of London and the Guildhall Art Gallery, London.

Sources and further reading

Art+Christianity, ‘Mark Cazelet: Tree of Life’, artandchristianity.org/ecclesiart-listings/mark-cazalet-tree-of-life

David Buckman, Artists in Britain Since 1945: Volume 1 A to L, Vol. 1 of 2 volumes, (Bristol: Art Dictionaries Ltd, 2006),p. 264. The text is also available on the Art UK website: artuk.org/discover/artists/cazalet-mark-b-1964

Richard Harries, The Image of Christ in Modern Art, (London and New York, NY: Routledge, 2016), p. 154-156.

Seeing the Spiritual: A Guide to the Methodist Modern Art Collection, (Oxford, Methodist Modern Art Collection, 2018), p. 28-31.

West Dean College of Art, ‘Mark Cazelet’ westdean.ac.uk/tutors/mark-cazalet

Roger Wollen, Catalogue of the Methodist Church Collection of Modern Christian Art with an Account of the Collection’s History, (Oxford: The Trustees of the Methodist Collection of Modern Christian Art, 2003), p. 53-55.