Friday, 21 March 2025

Grayson Perry: A Temple for Everyone exhibition …

 

Sir Grayson Perry, to give him his due, is an English artist known for his ceramic vases, tapestries and cross-dressing, as well as his observations on the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British “prejudices, fashions and foibles”.

Julie Cope tapestry

The Julie Cope tapestries were created for 'A House in Essex'.  Julie is a fictional Essex woman.  Two tapestries were completed for a commission for the charity "Living Architecture", they are held by the Crafts Council.

The visual story was created on a computer when working closely with a digital mediator as well as tapestry weavers, translated the work into a 3D woven textile.  Like an impressionist painting, the palette is created by individual stitches of different colours sitting side-by-side then blending in the viewer's vision.


During Covid, he and his wife, Philippa, held a lockdown art club, when he selected and collated art from everyday people, fellow artists and celebrities, based on themes occurring during the pandemic … one advantage of being able to collaborate over zoom …


Ye Olde English Pot

In this exhibition at the Charleston centre in Lewes there were over 30 of Perry's own works exploring stories of the home … from textiles and pots to ceramic tiles and woodcuts …

His most recent works in this exhibition explore themes of national identity.  Ye Olde English Pot is presented in the form of a medieval beer flagon.  Decorated with traditional slipware techniques, it references the polarising effect of the internet debate, while also invoking heraldic iconography.



he also works in printmaking, drawing, embroidery and other textile work, film and performance … a talented artist …

A Map of Days

'A Temple for Everyone' exhibition ties in with the Bloomsbury artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, who had transformed their home at Charleston Farmhouse, in the 1920/1930s, into a canvas and sanctuary for their ideas …

You won't be able to see the detail in this map portraying 'a fortified town'... but Perry has a longstanding fascination with maps.  Using the language of map making and historic cartographic techniques, Perry plays with the medium and uses it as a container for ideas. We can trace people, dreams, ideas and identity through these works which resemble literal mind maps, displaying ideas and their interconnections with one another in great detail.


similarly here Perry reimagines society through art, capturing the essence of contemporary life in his work … asking us to consider where we're at in life …


Plague Cat
I think having lived through Covid and having had to adjust to life in these times … we all probably now have different thoughts on our history as it stands …

During Covid he and his wife went through a walk around the deserted streets of London ... passing by Samuel Johnson's house, where the sculpture of his cat 'Hodge' resides.  Cats came to the fore ... here he's used the medium of an Islamic Incense burner ... and added pustules and boils ... to make it more decorative?!


Cocktail Party
I've selected very few of my photos ... with annotations as mostly provided by the curators of exhibition, which I've set out in smaller print ...  

This vase is an early ceramic work (1989), featuring women awkwardly engaged at a cocktail party.  Illustrated are Laura Ashley-style dresses, a Chanel suit, Madonna's bustier.  The vase offers a playful critique of high-class 1980s fashion, high society, and art world trends.  It also echoes themes found in Virginia Woolf's fourth novel, Mrs Dalloway, which highlights the tension between the polished public persona we present to the world and the private inner life that lies beneath.



Grayson Perry Trophy -
awarded to a person with good taste


The exhibits have made me think … and I'm more open to contemporary art … live and learn, I guess. Charleston's season of exhibitions at the Farmhouse will continue to explore the intersections between art and home … which I sadly will not get to …



This is the House of Essex built for the Living Architecture charity ... it does look really fun to look around - one day perhaps I'll get there.  


Grayson Perry - Wiki link ...

"House for Essex" wiki link ... 

Living Architecture link ... 



So - after all the above ... I hope you've been able to find your way round the information provided - I wasn't sure what to do ... as he's a complex, thought provoking character ... I was pleased I was able to visit the exhibition.


Here's another link to an exhibition in Edinburgh in 2023 - per Anabel's comment below ... it gives a little more explanation on Perry's career ... 


Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Wednesday, 12 March 2025

Floating Lady …

 

The art shuttle bus took Sue and I over to Lewes to the 'new' Charleston in Lewes … a building for exhibitions, community projects, artist-led workshops, gallery activities and educational programs tailored for local state schools, further education and higher education groups …


c/o Charleston in Lewes website

We went to see 'Grayson Perry: A Temple for Everyone' – which I'll post about next … as I need to get my head around explaining it!


It was fresh and chilly ... 
However … we had a lovely Spring day… on the way up in what to me was rather a 'Brutalist' building … the Floating Lady appeared … my photos don't do it justice against the bright (I know!) light of sunnier days … but the link below shows the sculpture off in all its floating glory.


My pic of her in the staircase foyer
Quentin Bell (1910 – 1996), nephew of Virginia Woolf, despite his talent as an artist, his career drew him to academia and book-writing … however he worked at various universities as a Lecturer in Art History – then ultimately as a Professor.


Charleston Farmhouse with pond
He often came down to Charleston Farmhouse, the Sussex home of the Bloomsbury group (writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the early 20th century) … when he wrote several of those books on the Group and the Farmhouse.


Bell as a child had been fascinated with optical illusions … as children they'd been taken in the early 1900s to see the Maskelyne's family stage show. Jasper Maskelyne (1902 – 1973) was a vain man, and though helping out with World War II deceptions, died an embittered drunk.


In situ - outside Leeds University

Bell was dumbfounded seeing the lady levitated – thinking it was impossible … but recalled watching the trick … with the lady eventually lying horizontal six feet from the floor.





So inspiration took hold and the completed fibreglass sculpture was placed over the Charleston Farmhouse pond … before being moved, after the War, to Leeds University, where Quentin Bell was a Professor of Fine Art.


Quentin Bell - late in life

I was fascinated to learn about Bell's interest in Maskelyne Cook's (House of Mystery) magic show … and then his crafting and creation of this sculpture … now back in rural Sussex ...



All grist to the mill … I will be back anon …


The Magician's Scapbook - Maskelyne and Cooke: House of Mysteries


Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories