Special John Roberts art exhibition at St Andrew’s, Alfriston on Ride + Stride day

A rare opportunity to see the work of gifted sculptor John Roberts is in store for Ride + Stride participants who head to St Andrew’s, Alfriston on September 13.

Uncrated will be the first exhibition of Roberts’s work in nearly 20 years and is taking place from September 7-21as part of the Lewes district’s annual Artwave festival.

Roberts died prematurely of cancer at the age of 56 in 2002. The exhibition will feature around 20 of his stone sculptures along with plaster studies for his cathedral and church commissions, some striking portrait heads in plaster and numerous drawings.

About John Roberts Roberts had an eclectic talent and was equally at home working in wood, limestone, clay, marble and stone. His figures and architectural carvings appear on many ecclesiastical and secular buildings around Britain, including Westminster Abbey, Lincoln Cathedral, Wells Cathedral and Woburn Abbey. In its obituary, The Independent wrote: “Roberts had a magisterial knowledge of classical and medieval sculpture and decoration enabling him to match styles with uncanny insight.”

Roberts’s most celebrated works included three carved life-size statues created for the west front of Westminster Abbey as part of the Twentieth Century Martyrs series – including the much-loved limestone carving of young South African martyr Manche Masemola. At Lincoln Cathedral, he carved a series of panels in local limestone to replace the eroded Romanesque originals on the west front.

His 1991 tympanum in Portland stone at Woburn Abbey, which replaced a 32ft by 7ft original, was awarded first prizes by both the Stone Federation and the Royal Institute of British Architects. In 1999, he created the 7-foot abstract bronze Angel on the Green in Islington.

The exhibition at St Andrew’s has been organised by Roberts’s widow, Silvia MacRae Brown, also a sculptor, in conjunction with rector Stephen Stuckes. She said: "It’s an honour to be exhibiting John’s sculptures in such a suitable setting and in a church that he loved. I would like this exhibition to be a real celebration of his work, to be seen and enjoyed by as many people as possible.

“John felt an outsider in the modern world, retreating into his London workshop to think and draw and carve his own abstracts in stone. These will be exhibited in the exhibition, as well as maquettes for his prestigious Cathedral commissions and his beautiful drawings with their delicacy of line, often in pencil.”

For more information about Roberts’s life and work, please visit the artist’s website www.john-roberts-sculptor.com. Obituaries are here: The Guardian | Independent

Bill Rendall, the Ride +Stride organiser for St Andrew’s, said: “A significant part of John Roberts’ work was ecclesiastical and so we agreed with Silvia to provide the venue for this exhibition. The exhibition is for the whole of Artwave and it is coincidental that Ride and Stride occurs during the course of it but it does seem serendipitous to be able to combine the two events for one day.”

St Andrew’s will be open throughout Ride + Stride day on September 13 and refreshments will be available. There is also a loo in the church plus public toilets in both Alfriston’s public car parks. Rendall added: “It’s worth noting that St Andrew’s is part of the Cuckmere Pilgrim Path, a circular 12-mile walk that takes walkers on a pilgrimage around seven ancient rural churches in the Cuckmere and neighbouring benefice. This makes it a great route for those planning their Ride and Stride activity.”

The Artwave festival, which is running September 6 to 21, involves hundreds of artists and makers exhibiting at venues all