Visited Grayson Perry’s exhibition The Tomb Of the Unknown Craftsman at the British Museum. A clever and thoughtful exhibition. Alongside his own works were treasures he had chosen from the Museum.
I brought the exhibition catalogue and a teddy bear. I am not solely responsible as I was being supervised by my other half. Yep a teddy bear. Somewhat out of character and not quite the god Alan Measles but a possible ally. I’m going to go with it. Alan Measles is Grayson Perry’s fifty year old teddy bear ‘benign dictator of my childhood imaginary world’. This is my third book of his – it smells really good. If autobiographies are your thing Grayson Perry’s, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl is beautiful.
Grayson Perry is my hero and fellow lover of objects:
‘… seeing oneself, one’s personal concerns as a human being, reflected back in the objects made long ago by fellow men and women with similar, equally human, concerns… One thing that connects all my choices is my delight in them’. [1]
‘In my own modest way I offer the Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman as an example of devising a ritual to satisfy a set of emotional needs, conscious or otherwise, that might be shared with others’. [2]
‘Though I subscribe to few superstitions, I enjoy the charms, talismans, shrines that are made by those that do. The very idea of the relic, of an object imbued with spiritual or mystical power, seems a close kin to contemporary art.’ [3]
‘Shrines to me embody the essence of what I do. I put significant artefacts in a special place for us to contemplate. The special place could be your pocket, in a corner of your house or by a roadside, it could also be a contemporary art gallery or the British Museum.’[4]
‘My own creativity and art practice has been a mental shed – a sanctuary as well as a place of action – where I have retreated to make things. It gives me a sense of security in a safe, enclosed space while I look out of the window on to the world. The shed was where I first learned how to make things, where my subconscious was schooled in colour, texture and the concept of making, I still have that excitement now, of being glad that I’m a maker and that my internal shed is always available.’ [5]
[1] PERRY. G, 2011, The Tomb Of the Unknown Craftsman, London: The British Museum Press, p.11. [2] Abid p.20. [3] Abid p.23. [4] Abid p.73
[5]JONES.W, PERRY.G, 2007, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl, London: Vintage, p.23.
