Populist Provincial Punk

Last week I took a trip along the coast to marvellous Margate to the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery to have a look at the Grayson Perry retrospective “Provincial Punk”.    It should be stated at the outset that Perry himself is keen to stress that this exhibition is not really a retrospective as that implies he is dead or has stopped working, which he clearly isn’t and hasn’t. What it is really, is a timeline in artifacts of his artistic output from graduation from Portsmouth Polytechnic in 1982 with a degree in Fine Art up until his most recent and controversial piece – the House for Julie in collaboration with FAT Architecture and constructed in Wrabness, Essex.

gallery leaflets

So now we have that straight, what was it all about?  The first large room is full of Perry Pots.  Large, covered in graffiti style imagery and slogans lampooning the Middle Class.  Most of these post are from the 80’s and 90’s when the “loadsamoney” culture was at its height, Perry adeptly highlights themes of greed and excess in the race to reach the top of the greasy pole prevalent at that time.  Sex and religion also make an appearance, nothing is off-limits for this angry young man.  While appearing highly decorative, much of the artwork is quite brutal, but that of course is what makes Perry so successful.

Moving into another room there are more pots, sketch books and a couple of “art films” from his student and early post-grad days.  Personally I loathe these kind of “art films”. They are always so full of angst and menace and so very earnest, trying so hard to be… something, but what?  They are often also accompanied by a dire soundtrack of odd sounds or heavy breathing.  My own feeling is that if you want to make films, study film making and do it properly!

The final room contains the Walthamstow Tapestry, all four sections of it.  This is the one which was created as part of the Channel 4 documentary series Who Are You?  It is an interesting piece, overloaded with imagery and text about life in modern Britain as seen through Perry’s eyes.  What I found interesting is how he seems to have switched from lampooning of the middle classes to targeting the working class.  There is much about “chav culture” and what is considered by most to be “poor taste” in these works.  Is this because like it or not, Perry himself has crossed the class divide and become the embodiment of the middle class?  He is after all, a white, middle-aged, male, degree educated and has achieved success in his chosen profession as an artist and social anthropologist.  Even his penchant for cross-dressing is something more identifiable with middle and upper classes than with the working class.  (OK, we’ve all seen Billy Elliott, but that’s not really the norm!)

I find Perry to be an interesting artist.  He has much to say and is clearly a very skilled craftsman, knowing his chosen medium – ceramics well and constantly pushing the boundaries in the making of his work.  I am a bit worried about his outward championing of hand skills and craftsmanship when it comes to his tapestries.  I don’t have a problem that he draws using an iPad, we should all embrace technology.  My issue is that he goes to Belgium and has these woven digitally by machine.  WHY!!!!!!! There are some fantastic artisan weavers in the UK, people who are at the very highest level possible in tapestry weaving by hand.  In fact West Dean college in West Sussex is active in weaving the most stunning contemporary pieces by some of the best weavers in the world.  Surely Perry could have had his pieces made there, it would be a fitting marriage of the traditional and contemporary.

The exhibition professes to “help us to assess culture, identity, class and the role of the artist and craftsperson from then (1980’s) until now.”  On one level I think it does do this, but on another I think it is really just an excuse to poke fun at different elements of society.  Perry is quoted in the gallery brochure as saying ” The idea of ‘Provincial Punk’ is an oxymoron but it encapsulates creatively some sort of spirit in my work that still goes on to this day.  It is a very creative force, a willingness to turn things over, to not accept the fashion and to have a bit of fun.  It is a kind of teasing rebellion; it is not a violent revolution.”  I would broadly agree with that, but there are some areas which cross the line and are simply just that little bit spiteful.  But I guess Perry can get away with it, after all he is an Artist and National Treasure.

Definitely worth a visit, you don’t need to be an art fan either; although I would say you need to be open and broad-minded.  Probably also not really one for younger children. Provincial Punk is at the Turner Contemporary Gallery. Margate until 13 September. Admission is free.

The Gift Shop selling Perry paraphernalia

There is a cafe on site, it’s OK but not great but the views are fabulous!

cafe at the Turner Contemporary

Big Sky outside the Turner Contemporary Gallery Margate

So, Who Are You?

In his latest TV series the artist Grayson Perry has once again picked up the theme of Identity this time focusing on personal identity – how we see ourselves and how we think others might see us.

I have been a ‘fan’ of Perry for many years and as well as seeing his work on exhibition I have heard him deliver lectures at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea and also at the V&A.  He is an interesting chap with plenty to say, although I am not sure I agree with all the points he raises. His TV current series on Channel 4 explores ideas about identity with artworks which  express the ideas brought out in the programmes.  These artworks have been placed on display within the National Portrait Gallery among the permanent collection, but in a position which has some relevance to the piece itself.  It has been quite a while since my last visit to the NPG, the rooms with the Perry show were predictably very busy, sadly the pay on entry show (William Morris) was  a lot quieter.  At the time of writing I have not yet seen the final programme in the current series so I have come to the artworks featured in that programme with no previous knowledge of what they are about aside from the short information card beside the piece.  At the top of the stairs is a large tapestry called ‘Map of Days’ which quotes (visually)  various well known figures and symbols ingrained in British culture.

Map of Days by Grayson Perry

There is a card which suggests a route around the rooms in which the works are placed.  Naturally they were attracting considerable amounts of attention which I found interesting in itself.  Undoubtedly they are well made, articulate pieces which on the face of it do exactly what the artist claims is the intention an “attempt to portray the character of the identity journey they [each subject] are facing.”   I found myself being more and more interested in the other work on the walls in each room and wondering about these people and their ‘identity journeys’ and less interested in the work I had come to see.  I came away with a nagging feeling that somehow despite the serious ‘face’ of the exhibition, there wasn’t somehow an element of ‘tongue-in-cheek’ going on, some gentle jesting at the subjects’ expense, although I am sure that is not what is intended.

A Modern Family – vase by Grayson Perry

The Earl of Essex – digital portrait miniature by Grayson Perry

Having seen the programmes (well 2 out of 3 at time of writing) and visited the exhibition do I think it succeeds once the obvious elements of celebrity and mass media culture exposure have been stripped away?  It certainly has novelty value, and each piece of work could very easily be made en-masse and sold as merchandise in  a’cool’ Shoreditch boutique.  I just can’t help feeling a little disappointed and that the works are just that bit too ‘obvious’, perhaps that’s just the pay-off for the involvement of populist TV.

Design Revolutionaries

It’s a while since I last visited Brighton Pavilion, the home of Brighton Museum and Art Gallery but each time I have visited I have come away feeling that I had seen something fresh and perhaps a tiny bit marvellous.  Today was no exception with a visit to the current feature exhibition Subversive Design.  Billed as “Craft, design and fashion with attitude” the exhibition explores how designers and makers react to the world around them.    Indeed the curators state that ” this major exhibition subverts your preconceptions and challenges your relationship with objects you use on a daily basis.”  But does it?

The dictionary definition of Subversive is:

Adjective:  Seeking or intended to subvert an established system or institution.

Noun:  A subversive person – (The government claimed we were subversives or terrorists.)

Certainly some of the objects on display fulfil these definitions, but many others, while being interesting art objects in their own right, are of the sort of thing which can be found in any “Cool” design outlet in the trendy areas of any city in any country.  Perhaps not quite that subversive then.  What I find interesting is how many modern artists/designers have used expletives, profanities, gory and explicit sexual imagery as a shock tactic in an attempt to subvert.  This was particularly relevant in the clothing of Vivienne Westwood from the 80’s, and granted at that time it was considered shocking by many; but it is a constant surprise to me that so many contemporary designers and artists still do so.    Are we really still shocked by images of genitalia or prolific use of “The F-Word” in the 21st century?

The piece that I found the most compelling was the digitally printed cotton duvet cover which looked like a flattened cardboard box.  Made by the Dutch collective known as SNURK, the piece is called the Clochard Duvet and was made in 2008 as a comment about homelessness.  Now I am fortunate that I have never been homeless, but this made me think about my own attitude towards those who are.  I think this is what really good art or design is about, something that challenges you and makes you consider your ideas and beliefs.

Clochard Duvet (2008) SNURK, printed cotton

 

I have said previously that much of what was on show looked as if it could be found in trendy design shops, and indeed a quotation on the gallery wall in relation to jewellery inspired by rubbish (crushed tin cans, used razor blades – but NOT made from these things) says:

“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.  It is dearness only that gives everything value”  Interesting words indeed, and more so when you realise that they were spoken by Thomas Paine circa 1776-1783.  Nothing changes.  But does something really have to have financial value to be esteemed or indeed be Valuable?

A common element of all the work on show was the exceptionally high standard of manufacture, perhaps because this is essentially a Design show and not an Art show, even though much of what is on show is also Art.  An interesting piece is the ceramic figurine of Grayson Perry’s alter-ego, Claire by ceramicist Carole Windham from 2003.  Titled “Claire, a Tranny who won the Turner Prize” the figure shows Perry dressed in his trademark frock, but lifting his skirt and exposing himself.  Carole Windham says of the piece “the title is a quote from Perry and by depicting him  as his alter-ego lifting his skirt and masturbating I am reminding the viewer of the dual way in which we perceive the world – it is up to each of us whether we experience the polarities as conflicting or complimentary.” Carole Windham 2003.  The piece is more interesting in that Perry himself has work on display in the show from around the same period in time which bears several remarkable similarities to those of Windham and which perhaps asks the question who is/was aware of whom, or if neither knew much about the other, where did they get their particular style influences from?  A second link to Perry can also be seen in the flamboyant costumes of Leigh Bowery, the 1980’s influential avant garde performance artist, pop star, club promoter,  fashion designer and model.  Personally, I see Bowery’s influence in much of Perry’s sartorial styling.  But is any of this really subversive?  I am not sure.

 

“Claire, a Tranny who won the Turner Prize” 2003 by Carole Windham

Two of the flamboyant costumes worn by Leigh Bowery

A somewhat more suprising garment is the dress worn by Lily Allen to the Glamour Awards ceremony in 2008.  A pretty pink silk is printed with the decapitated image of all-time Disney favourite Bambi.  Designed by Giles Deacon and called “Who Killed Bambi” the dress takes its name from a song by the almost-punk band Tenpole Tudor, and the motif has been reused in ceramics and jewellery.

Who Killed Bambi? by Giles Deacon and worn by Lily Allen

It is an interesting garment as it’s imagery definitely subverts the soft and feminine fabric.

Several of the other objects on show are really what I would call art or maybe decorators pieces.  These are objects which have novelty but no actual practicality, and in my view, perhaps not really subverting anything, rather just being fun or interesting.

Fifties Housewives. A wall paper commissioned for the exhibition by Dupenny

A strange lamp (horse?) made from reclaimed items stands against wall paper covered in digitally printed spiders

Completely unwearable and impractical “boots” by the German artist Iris Schieferstein who uses dead animals as the raw material for her artworks.

                   

 “Chopper” (2008) by Richard Slee, yard broom and ceramic figure

Two items which I think illustrated the “shock” value of subversive design were the muslin dress from the late 18th century, which in its day was considered shocking and disgraceful as muslin had only previously been used for undergarments; and the beautiful washstand; vanity unit from the early 1900’s.  This lovely piece of furniture was made in the Art Nouveau style with delicate marquetry inlay of flowers and leaves.  What was the most shocking thing about this pretty piece at the time was the fact that it was built around a metal framework made to look like wood!

I really enjoyed this exhibition even if I am not entirely convinced that all of the pieces on display are subversive.  My feeling about it is that it just scratches the surface of this subject and that there is scope for further investigation perhaps exploring more specific ideas.

It is definitely worth a look if you are in Brighton between now and March 9th 2014.