Ian Breakwell, Pierre & Gilles, Megan Jenkinson, Cathy de Monchaux, Christopher Braddock

Throughout history, text and image have remained central to the operation and communication of religion, and Christianity is no exception. Votive: sacred and ecstatic bodies brought together five contemporary artists who focused on aspects of religion that are interpretative and speculative, through media spanning photography, sculpture, video and installation.

Curated by Christopher Braddock with Mark Jackson, Votive included works by the collaborative French artists Pierre & Gilles, UK artists Ian Breakwell and Cathy de Monchaux and New Zealand practitioners Megan Jenkinson and Christopher Braddock.

Emblematic and ornamental representations of religious subject matter were placed alongside depictions of the body as fetish object. Through their distinct practices, the exhibiting artists challenged assumptions about sexuality and morality and interrogate boundaries of the politics of the body within a broadly religious context.

This exhibition was staged concurrently with The Cutting Edge: Avant-Garde Printmaking in Europe 1900-1950.