Grayson Perry, Head of a Fallen
Giant
David Hepher, Arrangement in Turquoise and
Cream 1979-81
Grayson Perry selects from the Arts Council
Collection
7 November 2009 - 3 January 2010
Artist's statement
“The Arts Council Collection asked me to
select a touring exhibition of works from their collections. The
first time I trawled through the catalogues illustrating the 8,500
pieces I found myself drawn to three distinct categories of art,
figurative painting, bronze sculpture and documentary photography.
What bound these three groups of work together were the period of
their inception and a more ineffable sense of mood. On the
whole the works date from 1945 till about 1980.
My title Unpopular Culture stems from
a notion that unlike today, in Britain during this period, stories
about art did not feature daily in the broadsheets or contemporary
artists crop up frequently in gossip columns. A time perhaps when
modern art was an even more rarefied activity, practised and
appreciated by other-worldly bohemians and intellectuals. The title
also refers to a feeling that many artists then made art that could
be characterised as subtle, sensitive, lyrical and quiet in
contrast to today when much art can seem like shouty advertisements
for concepts or personalities.
As a group for me these works conjure a
nostalgic picture of a post-war, pre-Thatcherite Britain, more
reflective, more civic and more humane.
Exhibition tour with Gallery Manager
Jon Benington
Friday 27 November, 12.00-12.45, free
View a press release here