Grayson Perry pots on display at Kelvingrove

Don't miss the display of work by one of the UK’s best known contemporary artists, Grayson Perry at Kelvingrove!

Article Source: Glasgow Life
Last Updated: 20 January 2016 15:51

Next time you are pottering around Glasgow’s West End make sure you take in the display of work by one of the UK’s best known contemporary artists, Grayson Perry at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

The new display features three pots by the Turner Prize winning artist acclaimed for his ceramics, sculptures, drawings, prints and tapestries and famed for stepping out as his flamboyant transvestite alter-ego Claire.

At first glance Perry’s pots, classical in form and brightly decorated, look like they could sit happily amidst the ancient vases found at The Burrell Collection. But, look closer, the subversive and thought-provoking illustrations that adorn these pots makes them at odds with their attractive appearance.

With sharp-eyed observation of the popular and vernacular, Perry chronicles contemporary life and tells stories ranging from the personal to the political, often referencing his own family, the art world, Biblical stories, the Royal Family, and images of warfare and violence.

Yet, despite their dark narrative, Perry’s clever humour, coupled with his gregarious personality and frequent TV appearances, makes his work some of the most popular in the UK.

Chair of Glasgow Life, Councillor Archie Graham, said “It is great to see these fine works of art by Grayson Perry on display at Kelvingrove. This new display gives everyone the opportunity to see art works by of the UK’s most successful and popular contemporary artists. The unveiling of this display is particularly timely as Glasgow hosts the Turner Prize, which Perry was awarded in 2003.”

In the work, Growing Up as a Boy (2000), Perry’s starting point was gender-defining stock-transfer imagery such as fighter planes and Native Americans. These replay ‘some of the emotional traumas of childhood’. Against this, the young girl Claire, Perry’s transvestite self, begins to emerge.

In a second work, I Dunno (2000), Perry has intentionally mimicked a type of African pot that, when fired by bonfire, has black, sooty surface markings. Perry’s ‘soot’ is a collage of monochrome photo-transfers that darkly observe issues of class, home, death and infant mortality.

And in Mr Shitsex (2000), pretty stock-transfer pictures of flowers, birds and countryside contrast with Perry’s drawn imagery which wittily explores male inadequacies in relationships. Macho bravado is alluded to through a hunting scene, fast vehicles and alcohol.

His vessels are made by coiling, a traditional method. Most have a complex surface employing many techniques, including glazing, incision, embossing, and the use of photographic transfers which requires several firings.

The display can be found in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum’s Study Centre on the first floor.

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