The exhibition will be available to view by free timed ticket. Online booking will commence on 30 August 2020.
New work by Grayson Perry, including ceramics, a tapestry and a large-scale print, are inspired by his forthcoming three-part documentary Grayson Perry's Big American Roadtrip (w/t), broadcast on Channel 4 in September. The series, in which the artist travels across the US on a custom-built motorbike he designed especially for the journey, explores some of the biggest cultural and political fault-lines in the country. Works respond to the programme's themes and conversations as Perry spent time with people from very different walks of life, from farmers in Wisconsin to African-American businesspeople in Atlanta, to understand how Americans today view issues of identity, race, money and class—and what might be done to overcome the divisions in their country (and in our own).
Grayson Perry is a great chronicler of contemporary life, drawing us in with wit, affecting sentiment and nostalgia as well as, at times, fear and anger. In his work, Perry tackles subjects that are universally human: identity, gender, social status, sexuality, religion. Autobiographical references – to the artist’s childhood, his family and his transvestite alter ego Claire – can be read in tandem with questions about décor and decorum, class and taste, and the status of the artist versus that of the artisan. Perry uses the seductive qualities of ceramics and other art forms to make stealthy comments about society, its pleasures as well as it injustices and flaws, and to explore a variety of historical and contemporary themes. He works with traditional media such as ceramics, cast iron, bronze, printmaking and tapestry, and is interested in how each historic category of object accrues intellectual and emotional baggage over time.
Since Victoria Miro founded her eponymous gallery in Cork Street, Mayfair, in 1985, the gallery has grown to represent over 40 artists and estates. With a reputation for presenting ground-breaking artists from around the world, Victoria Miro has exhibition spaces in London and a further gallery space in Venice.
