Stations of the Cross

This is a fascinating collaboration of compelling human stories by a well-known author with powerful contemporary paintings by a high-profile artist. Sara Maitland's compelling human stories give voice to Chris Gollon's powerful contemporary sequence of "Stations of the Cross" (painted from life and reproduced in the book in high-res colour images): a unique and potent collaboration. The Stations were commissioned for St John on Bethnal Green, a visually prominent London Anglican church designed by Sir John Soane, the neo-classical architect who also created the Bank of England and the Dulwich Picture Gallery. In 2001 the congregation made the extraordinary decision to commission a site-specific "Stations of the Cross", the traditional 14 pictures of the last day of Jesus' human life, used from the Middle Ages onwards for meditation and prayer.Perhaps unexpectedly, they chose a contemporary artist not best known for his religious works: Chris Gollon. By Easter 2008 the whole series was completed; the sequence was first used on Good Friday when the pictures gained considerable media attention. The commission for the Stations has taken 8 years to fulfil and they have been widely featured in national broadsheets, arts press and all denominations of religious arts press. The paintings are now reflected in a sequence of stories: first-person narratives by a well-known author who has been closely involved with the project.