Grayson Perry: The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever!

Wonderful exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery of new work by Grayson Perry.

OK I admit, like most of middle class England, I am a huge fan of Grayson Perry and this show didn’t disappoint. Just as the other show at the Serpentine was not about my tribe this one definitely was. The show looked at how we can widen the audience for art without dumbing down and what makes art and the idea of an artist popular.

The first room did this most directly and I loved a vase called “Visitor Figures” which looked at the most popular exhibitions in recent times. I was pleased I’d been to quite a few but picking the list of the vase did make you think about how shows influence taste and thinking.  I loved the large woodcut “Reclining Artist” with a naked self-portrait with him surrounded by his possessions including piles of books.

In the next room I loved “Death of a Working Hero” a tapestry in the style of a miners union using the funeral of a miner to represent the death of the industry and the changes to those communities.

The main room was works examining Brexit with two vases looking at those who voted leave and remain. These were shown with a huge new tapestry looking at the current state of Britain including a burnt out car in a field, lorries heading out of the Chanel Tunnel and ghostly images of patchwork underneath. It reminded me of the Good and Bad government fresco in Sienna.

The final room included the motorbike Perry designed and used on one of his recent series including the little seat on the back for his teddy bear. There was also a piece called “Marriage Shrine”, a take on a roadside shrine but images of him and his wife and objects that are significant to them.

Closes on 10 September 2017

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