In the past the Ale and Porter Arts Gallery, in Bradford-on-Avon, has more than proved itself to be right at the pointy end of contemporary art.
In the last year alone it has: transformed itself into an arts supermarket with cash tills, shopping trolleys, and jingles; exhibited a photographer who takes snaps with his mouth and was even behind the grassing over and letting loose of a flock of sheep in the middle of Bradford-on-Avon in the middle of the night. So it was only to be expected that their latest exhibition 'Chocolate' would be anything but… well predictable.
 | | Prudence Emma Staite's Venus |
In fact it's promising to be their most controversial exhibition to date… In the run up to Easter, as many people's thoughts turn to chocolate and the crucifixion, the Ale and Porter's artist in residence promises to have both well and truly fixed in his mind. On Good Friday, George Heslop will be busy at the gallery creating a near life-size sculpture of Jesus on the Cross… made entirely out of chocolate. For Heslop, who created his first Chocolate Crucifix a couple of years ago, this will be the first time he has tackled one of the World's best-known religious icons, in chocolate, full-scale. It's a sculpture that is, at the very least, guaranteed to be an 'in your face' representation of Easter. But according to Heslop's statement it's more than just that: "Just look at all those chocolate eggs, bunnies and hearts all expertly wrapped and packaged with the loving hands of confectionary giants," says Heslop.
 | | George Heslop's Jesus on the Cross |
"Easter now is a crass celebration of retail opportunism and chocolate indulgence which is selling the post modern concept of Easter through a form of context driven retail religious opportunism." Retail opportunism aside, a recreation of one of the classic visual images of Christianity in something as indulgent, frivolous and (dare we say it) 'sinful' as chocolate could prove challenging to more than just hard-line Christians. For Ale and Porter's founder and director, Fiona Haser, though Heslop has something very important to tell us: "Surely all the real human suffering in the world should be far more important than some argument about a chocolate effigy. But somehow these abstract symbols are treated with more respect than real world events." All in all, whether the idea of a chocolate Jesus appeals to you or appalls you… it will challenge you to work out just why it does.
For those, however, who prefer their fine art/fine chocolate in a less contentious form the Chocolate Exhibition also includes a chocolate sculpture of Michaelangelo's David by Heslop and work by artist Prudence Emma Staite.
 | | George Heslop's Chocolate David |
Staite's work is a chocolic's dream. Her life-size take on Dali's Venus with a golden egg, for instance, was sculpted out of 50kg of chocolate using her tongue and teeth. And if that hasn't whetted your appetite there will also be a white chocolate picket fence by Angela Cockayne, chocolate tasting, chocolate demonstrations and a 'Chocolate Sculpture' workshop on Easter Saturday. The Ale and Porter Arts 'Chocolate Exhibition' runs from Saturday 8th April through to Saturday 6th May. For more information, or to book a workshop or a demonstration, call Ale and Porter Arts on 01225-868919. |