An increasingly manic diatribe in godspeak by a fundamentally unhinged priest who fulminates against the sins of the flesh.

A middle-aged Catholic priest fulminates in an increasingly grotesque manner on the thesis that “the inhumane imposition of law is obscene”.
Sourced from various law books and even Baden Powell’s instructions to Boy Scouts, the piece is equally reminiscent of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. As the priest spits and sweats, his “sermon” is increasingly filled with references to dirty bodies and unclean thoughts and the original subject is lost in his obsession with opportunities for carnal sin.
Exhibited in the show Votive: Sacred and ecstatic bodiesat the Adam Gallery.

Description card for Ian Breakwell’s works including ‘The News’, ‘In The Home’ and ‘The Sermon’. pdf here.

Promotional card for ‘The Sermon’: A Videotape by Ian Breakwell, 1983.pdf here.

Promotional flyer for ‘The Sermon.’pdf here.