Artist Bradley Bailey, left, and St Saviour’s Anglican church’s Reverend Chesnay Frantz standing at one of the Stations of the Cross paintings recently unveiled at the church.
Image: Wesley Ford
St Saviour’s Anglican church has unveiled its own Stations of the Cross artwork.
Reverend Chesnay Frantz said the Claremont church is over 170 years old but historical records indicated that they have not had the Station of the Cross artwork depicted at many Anglican churches.
The artwork by visual artist Bradley Bailey, from Lansdowne, was unveiled on Palm Sunday, April 13, just a few days before Good Friday on April 18.
Mr Bailey had worked closely with Reverend Frantz on concept designs.
Reverend Frantz said previously when the church had held a Station of the Cross service during the week of Lent, they would show parishioners printed images or stills from a television screen, but now they have their own fixed paintings that depict the Stations of the Cross.
Reverend Frantz said the 14 paintings depict the Crucifixion of Christ. “It starts from the first station when Jesus is called to trial, all the way to when he is laid in the tomb.”
The idea of commissioning the artwork was first conceived when Reverend Frantz attended a meeting at the Claremont Improvement District Company (CIDC) office in 2021 and saw a copy of a painting of Uyinene Mrwetyana, a UCT student who had been murdered at the Clareinch post office in Claremont in 2019.
Reverend Frantz found out that Mr Bailey was the artist and invited him to meet the congregation.
Reverend Frantz said they received support from The Fellowship of St John Trust Association in the United Kingdom that managed to raise over £6000 (R145 000) to commission the work, which included buying the paint materials and the light fixture that accompanies the paintings.
Mr Bailey, who has previously held art exhibitions at the Alliance Francaise in Mitchell's Plain in 2001 and an art museum in Da Marseille, France, in 2013, said this had been a “fantastic journey.” “It was more than just creating art pieces, it was a spiritual journey; there was research involved, and I had to determine how I would describe the text of Christ's suffering.”
Mr Bailey said the artwork managed to move some parishioners to tears, but it was important for him to evoke dialogue through his art. “It's to evoke the questions within ourselves as to where we are as individuals or our own walk with Christ.”
Reverend Frantz said Mr Bailey’s work is, “a masterpiece which will exist for generations and outlive many of us and whoever comes to this church in future generations would be able to appreciate these art pieces.”
Bradley Bailey at one of the Station of the Cross paintings titled, Jesus falls the first time.
Image: Wesley Ford