The Eyes At St. Mary’s
He Said, “Peace At Home, Peace In The World”
Sat 12 / Sun 13 October 2024 St. Mary’s church, Redgrave, hosted the unique experience of displaying, against the backdrop of its magnificent stained glass east window, the image of the Eyes by ‘İngiliz Ressam’, ‘English Artist’, Ned for the first time in the UK. This was Eyes No: 07, painted and time-lapse filmed in East Anglia for the 1923-2023 centenary commemorations of the founding of the Turkish Republic by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
The event attracted visitors local, from London and Wales. Rita from Diss was probably the most senior visitor at the tender age of 97 while a 6 week baby from Redgrave was definitely the youngest. Gulay travelled from London, having collaborated with her late husband Christopher to install Ned’s 3.5m Atatürk Gülümsüyor (Atatürk Smiles) into the Istanbul Lütfi Kırdar International Convention and Exhibition Centre (ICEC) in 2001. Ivan and Bernadette probably came furthest from Abergavenny, Wales. Entry was free while postcard images of the Eyes at St. Mary’s raised £107 for church funds.
East Anglian Ned lived in Istanbul, has a 35 year relationship with Türkiye and exhibited Turkish themed artworks at St. Mary’s in 2008. Since then this image of the Eyes has been displayed by the Turks upon the steps of Anıtkabir, Ankara, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to mark 23rd April, National Sovereignty and Children’s Day and the 100th anniversary of ANZAC and Victory Day. The Eyes travelled through Port Said, Jeddah, Aden, Mumbai, Colombo, Singapore, Saigon, Hong Kong, Fuzhou, Nagaski, Kushimoto and Tokyo on board the Turkish Navy vessel TCG Gediz on a voyage which remembered the 1890 loss of the Ottoman frigate Ertuğrul as a solemn symbol of friendship between Türkiye and Japan. A Power Point presentation was prepared by St. Mary’s Trustee Chairman Bob Hayward telling the story of Ertuğrul which has resulted in an enduring friendship of now 134 years between Japan and Türkiye.
A peculiarity of this painting is that close up, it is composed of blobs of paint, but the further away the viewer goes, the clearer, sharper and more photogenic the image becomes. Ned refers to this technique as ‘blobism’. The viewing distance within the space of St. Mary’s church was perfect.
Redgrave St Mary’s church is owned by the Churches Conservation Trust and operated by Redgrave Church Heritage Trust. It is no longer used for regular worship, but remains consecrated and used for community activities.
Eyes No: 07 was completed by 01 January 2023, but a massive earthquake spanning Türkiye and Syria 06 February curtailed any commemorations or celebrations. Ned’s painting was wrapped and stored away until a chance meeting between Ned and St. Mary’s Trustees Julian van Beveren and Bob Hayward led to an invitation to unwrap and display the Eyes. The primary reason for doing so was, as Chairman Bob put it, ‘It simply looks beautiful’.
The overriding theme was, in the words of Atatürk:
“Yurtta barış, dünyada barış için çalışıyoruz.”
“We work for peace at home, peace in the world.”