BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.7//EN TZID:Europe/London X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London BEGIN:VEVENT UID:10716@artinliverpool.com DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London;VALUE=DATE:20250607 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London;VALUE=DATE:20250915 DTSTAMP:20250731T152440Z URL:https://www.artinliverpool.com/events/tony-phillips-20th-century-chape l/ SUMMARY:Bombed Out Church (St Luke's): Tony Phillips: 20th Century Chapel DESCRIPTION:An Independents Biennial Exhibition\n\n20th Century Chapel\nTon y Phillips\n“This display is available to view during the Bombed Out Chu rch’s open days. For dates and times\, please visit www.slboc.com/whats -on.”\n\nThe ‘20th Century Chapel’ is a collection of murals which t ell story of the last 120 years. A site specific installation\, the work j uxtaposes the technological progress of the 20th century with its concurre nt social catastrophes. Objects of human invention adopt a divine status\, while the decades are chronicled in sequence as if verses of a religious narrative – begging the question\, what lessons are to be learnt from hu manity’s recent past\, and are they applicable within the post-industria l\, commercially driven world of today.\nThe Chapel is presented as if a r elic of human civilisation\, and by decontextualising everyday objects suc h as washing machines and televisions\, we are afforded a sense of detachm ent and in turn an objectivity about ourselves.\nElectricity pylons become wardens of enigmatic and ethereal objects (hairdryers\, WiFi\, and brands )\, while the gas pump becomes a kind of transcendent\, life-giving founta in.\nThe Chapel is the centrepiece of ‘Above Us Only Sky?’\, an art tr ail comprising hand-painted panels displayed on buildings between the Blue coat and the Bombed Out Church.\n\n\nThe chapel is now available for viewi ng during open days. A £2 donation is requested on entry to continue the upkeep of the building and fund future arts\, cultural and community proje cts.\n\n\nARTIST STATEMENT:\n\n‘The idea started with the installation o f ‘Temple to the Sacred Automobile’ in 2010\, which was a comment upon how modern society has become dependent upon the motor car\, which in tur n has become an object of adoration.\nIn 2019 I discussed the idea of turn ing the whole space into an artwork dedicated to Man’s endeavours over t he past 120 years – extending the comment beyond the motor car to includ e all inventions\, political ideals and cultural phenomena – in short\, the idea of human ‘progress’. \nA church partly ruined by aerial bomb ardment in WWII became a significant site for making a comment on the trag edy of progress in the modern age. Moreover\, the tradition of art decorat ing places of worship allowed me to pursue an art form – fresco wall-pai nting – which was the ideal format for illustrating the history of the l ast 120 years\, converting the mural painting into a collection of sacred narratives and icons which ironically celebrate human achievements as dive rse as Coca Cola and the atom bomb.\nThis converting of our recent history into something that – like the church – is a remnant of a ‘bygone c ivilisation’\, helps us to get an objective idea of who we are as a spec ies – detached as it were from the remarkable phenomena of the 20th cent ury. At the heart of this story is the dichotomy between the achievement o f flight (1903) and the destructive power of airborne warfare\, evinced so clearly by the ruins of St Luke’s.\nThis prompted me to create a trail of images (painted plaques) through the streets of Liverpool which charts the history of aircraft\, from the first powered flight to drones today.  \nThis Art Trail starts at the Bluecoat and leads up Bold street to St Luk e’s – at which point it is represented by a plaque of WWII bombers. It continues back to the Bluecoat via the Ropewalks area.  \nThus\, an impo rtant Liverpool art institution and an important memorial building and com munity venue are linked in one Art Trail\, in which St Luke’s itself bec omes the living testimony of the story told in the plaques.\nI wish to tha nk all those who have supported the project at St Luke’s from 2010: Arts Council England\, the Bluecoat\, Liverpool BID Company\, Frenson Ltd\, Du ggan &\; Parr\, and St Luke’s Bombed Out Church.\n\n\n \;\n\nAbou t Bombed Out Church:\n\n \;\n\n\nSt Luke’s Bombed‑Out Church is one of Liverpool’s most iconic cultural landmarks — a roofless\, h istoric shell of a former parish church struck by an incendiary bomb durin g World War II\, now reimagined as a contemporary space for arts\, cult ure\, and community outreach. Events and projects dovetail with Heritage O pen Days\, a schools programme\, weddings\, volunteering opportunities\, a nd a seasonal garden bar and café\, keeping the site open as a working mo nument to the resilience and heart of Liverpool.\nThe displays are availab le to view during the Bombed Out Church’s open days. For dates and times \, please visit www.slboc.com/whats-on.\n ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.artinliverpool.com/wp-content/upload s/2025/07/tony-phillips-20th-century-chapel-1.avif CATEGORIES:Exhibitions LOCATION:Bombed Out Church (St Luke's)\, Bombed Out Church\, Liverpool\, L1 2TR\, Liverpool\, United Kingdom GEO:53.401786;-2.975456 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Bombed Out Church\, Liverpo ol\, L1 2TR\, Liverpool\, United Kingdom;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Bombed Out Church (St Luke's):geo:53.401786,-2.975456 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250330T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR