The King Charles Foundation is celebrating the New Year with a striking new exhibition blending sacred tradition and visual spectacle, opening on Tuesday in the atmospheric Garrison Chapel at Chelsea Barracks.
The free exhibition celebrates the work of 10 emerging icon painters and marks the association’s 35th anniversary in a fitting artistic style.
Described by organizers as both a “spiritual encounter” and a “visual delight”, the exhibition features complex works created by students from the King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts.
Each piece reflects the centuries-old discipline of icon painting, embodied by a new generation of artists.
Aidan Hart, director and tutor of the Shrewsbury-based Certificate of Icon Painting course, promises visitors much more than just a stroll through a gallery.
“Those who attend the exhibition will be treated to a real feast for the eyes,” he said, “and will be able to encounter a different type of beauty.”
Visitors will not only get a glimpse of the students’ talents, but they will see almost the whole story.
The works on display represent approximately 80 percent of what the artists produced during their three years of training, making the exhibition closer to a grand finale than a simple showcase.
The part-time program is as rigorous as it is respectful.
In three years, students must create seven major works: two head studies, two busts, two complete figures and an ambitious “festive” icon representing a pivotal moment in the life of Christ or the Virgin Mary.
As course director Aidan Hart explains, there’s no hiding behind just one masterpiece.
“As part of the program, students are required to display at least six of the seven icons they have created,” he said.
