The British Museum's various collections total some eight million items, and in most cases we will never know the makers' names. In celebration of these countless unknown artisans Grayson Perry has curated Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman.
Perry has turned the relationship between collection and curator on its head. Contemporary artists are often asked to respond to a museum's collections, but in this case Perry has chosen about 200 objects that correlate to a selection of his own textiles, sculptures and ceramic pots, many of which are on display for the first time in this exhibition. Perry's choices include a prehistoric axe, Polynesian fetishes, Buddhist votive offerings, a re-engraved coin from 1882 depicting Queen Victoria with beard and boating hat, as well as a collection of 20th century badges and ephemera.
When interviewed by Sam Phillips for the British Museum Magazine, Autumn 2011, Perry described the exhibition as ″a portrait of my imagination and my personal predilections″.
Grayson Perry – About the Artist
Grayson Perry, born in Chelmsford, Essex, studied at Braintree College of Further Education and received his BA in fine art at Portsmouth Polytechnic. Although working in a broad range of media Perry is probably best known for his classically shaped ceramic pots, covered with figures, patterns and text, often sexually explicit. Perry received the Turner Prize in 2003 for the use of traditional ceramics exploring personal and social issues in Boring Cool People (1999), Village of Penians (2001) and Golden Ghosts (2001). Furthermore, the artist is one of the newest Royal Academicians, having been elected in March 2011.
Grayson Perry has curated two previous exhibitions: Unpopular Culture, de la Warr Pavilion (2008); and The Charms of Lincolnshire, The Collection, Lincoln (2006). His work has also featured at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2002); the Barbican Art Gallery, London (2002); the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh (2006); the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan (2007); and Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg (2008).
The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman – Highlights of the Exhibition
Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman explores themes related to craftsmanship and pilgrimages, including shamanism, magic and religious relics, as well as motorbikes, identity, modern culture, and sexuality – Perry often appears in public dressed as his transvestite alter-ego, Claire.
At the start of the exhibition we meet 'Alan', Perry's 50-year-old teddy bear, full name: Alan Measles. Alan is described as ″the benign dictator″ of Perry's imaginary childhood world, who, amongst other things, assumed the roles of surrogate father, rebel leader, fighter pilot, and racing driver. The exhibition features many items dedicated to Alan including a shrine titled Shrine to Alan Measles; a vase titled The Near Death and Enlightenment of Alan Measles; and a sculpture, Alan Measles on Horseback.
Alan still features in Perry's adulthood as ″guru and living god″, and in 2010 Perry and Alan embarked on a ten-day tour of Germany on a custom-built elongated motorbike, the Kenilworth AM1. They chose Germany because Alan fought the Germans in numerous imaginary battles, so the journey, or pilgrimage, was a way of making peace with an old enemy. The bike, named Patience, is vividly coloured with pink mudguards, red details, and blue wheels, The saddle is named ″Chastity″ and the vehicle has a painted flower which whirls when the bike is in motion. During the journey Alan occupied a shrine-like glass case mounted above the back wheel.
A Stunt Double for Alan – X-Factor? Teddy bears?
In the six weeks prior to the exhibition Perry organised an X-Factor-style competition. Thousands of hopeful teddies entered, and thousands of members of the public voted to elect three winning stunt doubles who can be seen in the Great Court on the following dates:
- Pinny, Retired Confidant – 30th September to 15th November 2011
- John Duggan, Depressed House Bear – 16th November to 12th January 2012
- Dr Schmoo, Consultant Vertebrate Paleontologist – 13th January to 19th February 2012
Perry's Pots – The Frivolous Now
Included in the display are nine ceramic vases by Grayson Perry. Perry's pots, which explore both historical and contemporary themes, include The Frivolous Now. The artist outlines his thought processes during the conception of this work. He starts by saying that everything in the British Museum was, at some point in its life, contemporary, and he wanted to create something that was of the moment. The design for the pot, which came to him whilst watching television, consists of ″words and phrases that seem to epitomise the time. Even the title came from an article in the newspaper that week. I wanted it to have the look of a mystical diagram whilst the content consisted of the banalities and buzzwords of February 2011.″
The Climax – The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman
The climax of the exhibition is The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman dedicated to the many unknown artisans whose work is held at the British Museum.
The tomb is a six-and-a-half foot-long cast-iron coffin-ship cast in iron but with the appearance of wood. The vessel was inspired by the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey, and by early Egyptian models, and ships buried at Tonsberg in Norway, and Sutton Hoo in Suffolk.
Perry chose iron because of a lifelong fascination with heavy machinery. In his words, ″it is the material symbolic of Utility Man and of traditional heavy industry″. The feminist writer, Susan Faludi, coined this term to represent the craftsmen of the manufacturing age who were good at fixing just about anything with their hands. The ship is hung with casts of items selected from the BM's collections and representing Perry's imagination. Taking centre stage is a prehistoric flint hand axe, representing craftsmen everywhere.
Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman – Exhibition Catalogue
In support of the exhibition the British Museum Press has published a fully illustrated hardback catalogue by Grayson Perry. The 192-page publication features 200 colour illustrations and is priced at £25, ISBN: 978 0 7141 1820 8.
The ticketed exhibition is supported by AlixPartners with Louis Vuitton and will be on show from 6th October 2011 to 19th February 2012. Further information is available from The British Museum.
Sources:
- The British Museum
- Perry, G., Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman, British Museum Press, 2011
- Phillips, S., Ode to the Craftsman, British Museum Magazine Autumn 2011, The British Museum,
Frances Spiegel - Frances Spiegel, B.A. Hons. (Open)., Dip.Eur.Hum., read Art History/European Modern History at the Open University.
