NGS Grayson Perry Smash Hits 2023 Exhibition Review 6th August 2023
Image Grayson Perry, Kenilworth AM1, 2010, custom-built motorcycle © Grayson Perry. Photo Angus Mill
Grayson Perry: Smash Hits at the National Galleries Scotland (Royal Scottish Academy) from 22 July – 12 November 2023 is a rare chance to see some of the most iconic works by one of the most prolific British artists of the last 40 years in one location. This exhibition, which has been organised in close collaboration with the artist, Victoria Miro gallery and Paragon press, features more than eighty works which give us all an insight into the wide ranging possibilities of creativity which Grayson Perry has turned his attention to over his artistic career. Whatever the medium be though - pottery, print, tapestry, sculpture, costume design, architecture (and much more) - there is so often that subversive element, that punk ethos of non-conformity and individuality about these works, and so often it is done with humour.
The first things that will probably strike many people as they start to walk around the rooms of this exhibition (which is curated thematically and not chronologically) is the sheer size of some of these works and the explosive vibrance of colour within them. Perhaps the most obvious connective element throughout so many of these works though is the very open insight that they give to not only Grayson Perry the artist but Grayson Perry the human being, and at times these two sides seem to have been desperately trying to come together with a unified voice and come to terms with the fact that like so many of us (if we would only admit it to ourselves at least) Grayson Perry is a multi-faceted personality who has, after many years, finally achieved acceptance of who exactly these different personas within him are, and one of the most important works on exhibition here, from a human perspective, can so easily be missed in the corner of a room – “Coming Out Dress For Claire”. Claire is of course Grayson Perry’s alter ego and this is also referenced by large photographic screen prints of each, one as you enter the exhibition and one as you leave.
If there is one problem with this exhibition, it is that there is simply so much to take in as this is almost a visual and colour assault upon your senses, and the risk here is that the instantly eye catching artworks on the walls that are so full of colour can, if you are not careful, let you miss some of the smaller works on display that in their own way have so much to say. Together however, everything is of one collective voice as Grayson Perry’s commentary on religion, class-structure, masculinity, sexuality, politics, ageing, history and so many facets of what most of us just take as our daily life without stopping to examine and question things falls under his creative, inspective and inquisitive eye. So often being questioned here too is Grayson Perry’s own quest to uncover just what being English means to so many different people across every social and cultural strand of our now very interwoven society. Some of these themes are referenced in six tapestries that explored the theme of class structure in a 2012 television series for Channel 4. There is also an “English Room” as part of this exhibition. For me, though, the most powerful statement is one of historical truths that so many people would rather not look at too closely and that is the red and white flag of St George (and England) that from the other end of a room looks to be just that, but step closer, step right up to this work and you will see why its title is “Slave Ship”.
History is obviously important to Grayson Perry and some of the major works on display here have either direct connections to it (even if adapted now to his own individual perspective) and by any means that you use to judge a work of art, the rarely shown 15 metre long Walthamstow Tapestry (2009) which presents a birth-to-death experience of man, is impressive.
One of the major works of this exhibition is not on the walls, or in the display cases, but in the middle of a room, the Kenilworth AM1, 2010, custom-built motorcycle. Equally impressive in its own space is the intricate cast-iron ship, Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman. Here in a coffin shaped ship filled with artifacts, Grayson Perry celebrates all of the unknown artisans whose works fill museums and collections across the world.
For me anyone who creates a work featuring his old Teddy Bear, “Alan Measles For God”, and puts him on his motorcycle has my personal seal of approval.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
The first things that will probably strike many people as they start to walk around the rooms of this exhibition (which is curated thematically and not chronologically) is the sheer size of some of these works and the explosive vibrance of colour within them. Perhaps the most obvious connective element throughout so many of these works though is the very open insight that they give to not only Grayson Perry the artist but Grayson Perry the human being, and at times these two sides seem to have been desperately trying to come together with a unified voice and come to terms with the fact that like so many of us (if we would only admit it to ourselves at least) Grayson Perry is a multi-faceted personality who has, after many years, finally achieved acceptance of who exactly these different personas within him are, and one of the most important works on exhibition here, from a human perspective, can so easily be missed in the corner of a room – “Coming Out Dress For Claire”. Claire is of course Grayson Perry’s alter ego and this is also referenced by large photographic screen prints of each, one as you enter the exhibition and one as you leave.
If there is one problem with this exhibition, it is that there is simply so much to take in as this is almost a visual and colour assault upon your senses, and the risk here is that the instantly eye catching artworks on the walls that are so full of colour can, if you are not careful, let you miss some of the smaller works on display that in their own way have so much to say. Together however, everything is of one collective voice as Grayson Perry’s commentary on religion, class-structure, masculinity, sexuality, politics, ageing, history and so many facets of what most of us just take as our daily life without stopping to examine and question things falls under his creative, inspective and inquisitive eye. So often being questioned here too is Grayson Perry’s own quest to uncover just what being English means to so many different people across every social and cultural strand of our now very interwoven society. Some of these themes are referenced in six tapestries that explored the theme of class structure in a 2012 television series for Channel 4. There is also an “English Room” as part of this exhibition. For me, though, the most powerful statement is one of historical truths that so many people would rather not look at too closely and that is the red and white flag of St George (and England) that from the other end of a room looks to be just that, but step closer, step right up to this work and you will see why its title is “Slave Ship”.
History is obviously important to Grayson Perry and some of the major works on display here have either direct connections to it (even if adapted now to his own individual perspective) and by any means that you use to judge a work of art, the rarely shown 15 metre long Walthamstow Tapestry (2009) which presents a birth-to-death experience of man, is impressive.
One of the major works of this exhibition is not on the walls, or in the display cases, but in the middle of a room, the Kenilworth AM1, 2010, custom-built motorcycle. Equally impressive in its own space is the intricate cast-iron ship, Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman. Here in a coffin shaped ship filled with artifacts, Grayson Perry celebrates all of the unknown artisans whose works fill museums and collections across the world.
For me anyone who creates a work featuring his old Teddy Bear, “Alan Measles For God”, and puts him on his motorcycle has my personal seal of approval.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com