Amazing Grayson.....

Delusions. Of Grandeur?

Marlon Brando as Regulator Robert E Lee Clayton
in Arthur Penn's The Missouri Breaks

Q. When is a National Treasure not a National Treasure?

A. When it doesn't know who it is.

Grayson Perry as Shirley Smith
in Madge Gill's The Wallace Collection

The dress Grayson Perry designed for Marlon Brando
[Are you sure?  Ed]

Amazing Grayson, How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now I am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

And the first thing I see, on regaining my sight, are London rooftops, which conceal the life within.  Layer upon layer of obscurity, through which I attempt to spy something relevant.  

And so, in search of reason, we attend Her Madge's show in the underworld of the Wallace Collection, within the dusty confines of Hertford House.  Here she is. Lying in wait.....

The exhibition, on the occasion of Grayson's 65th birthday [Only a year or so to the Bus Pass. Ed], is one masked by a plurality of personae, where Ms Perrin [Shome mishtake? Ed], sorry, Grayson Perón. [Shtill not right. Ed] OK. Where Grayson shelters under a plurality of alter egos, starting with Shirley Smith, an outsider artist who believes herself to be The Honourable Millicent Wallace, rightful heir to Hertford House and its collection, including the Armoury.

Gun for shooting into the past

I have to declare something of my ignorance here. Apart from hearing that he won the Turner Prize in 2003, catching snatches of Perry's 2013 Reith Lectures, seeing some knitted bicycles and floral pots in the Arnolfini in Bristol, learning that in 2014 he was elected to the Royal Academy of Art, and that in 2019 he was appointed a trustee of the British Museum, I have not been a Grayson Perry groupie. But he is an articulate, and skilful creator and his ideas are considerable. Initially a potter,

What a Wonderful World - Glazed ceramic
(When I first came to London I was poor.  Forty-two years later, as a successful artist, I am fairly rich.  But I never take it for granted.....  Try being poor and you soon find out how all-consuming anxiety about money can become - Grayson Perry)

He has mastered many materials, such as textiles,

I Know Who I Am 
Cotton fabric and embroidery appliqué bedspread
(I imagine Shirley making this bedspread as a talismanic protection for her body and her sense of identity - Grayson Perry)

AI designed tapestries:

Modern, Beautiful and Good
(I imagined this tapestry as a seductive logo-wall, in front of which virtue-signalling aesthetes could advertise their good taste and their munificence - Grayson Perry)

Multi-media productions:

Wall paper:

Furniture:

The Great Beauty - Oak, brass and ceramic
(A shrine to friendship - No one knows what Shirley actually kept inside the cabinet, for it was found empty upon her death - Grayson Perry)

And various styles of portraiture:

The Honourable Millicent Wallace - Woodblock print
(This portrait is how Shirley Smith saw herself; it is a mirror to her self-soothing delusion.  Millicent is the essence of regal elegance.  She is desirable, stylish, rich, confident and a crack shot - Grayson Perry)

Magical Thinking
('Magical thinking' is when we believe our thoughts and feelings can have an effect on the world - Grayson Perry)

This show is dazzling, and is great fun. It has had some interesting reviews, not all of them five star. The Week UK reported thus in April: The trouble is that Perry's heart just isn't in it, said Alastair Sooke in The Telegraph [Perhaps they would?  Ed]. Indeed, "his irritation with the project is palpable": in his captions, he expresses his dislike for the Wallace and its contents, even its West End location; he describes an intentionally crude new pot he has made for the show as "a grumpy outburst in pottery form", its rough edges hewn in response to the museum's trove of exquisite 18th century Sèvres porcelain. "OK, so he hates French rococo style – but, given that this is a speciality of the Wallace Collection, why take this exhibition on?" Perry's teasing provocations are usually offset by his "famous wit", but here he comes across as stroppy.....

I am not at all sure that I agree, but that is my dilemma.  In his first Reith Lecture, under the title Playing to the Gallery, Grayson offered a mathematical formula for art in the twenty-first century:  What you do is you get a half-decent, non-offensive kind of idea, and then you times it by the number of studio assistants, then you divide it with an ambitious art dealer and that equals the number of oligarchs and hedge-fund managers in the world.....

There is an underlying cynicism in this, but perhaps it should not be disregarded. Grayson also once said: If you want to be successful in the art world you've got to look to the art world; you don't make it for the bloke next door and then hope the art world is going to look at it. That's one of the big mistakes people make.  I think that Duccio probably knew that.  And isn't that what drove Van Gogh to despair?

A Tree in a Landscape - Etching
(The tree stands in a landscape of potential causes.  We all exhibit some traits that could be pathologised - Grayson Perry)

'Twas Grayson that taught my heart to fear,

And Grayson my fears relieved.

How precious did that Grayson appear

The hour I first believed.

It is hot.  London is not cool, though across the royal parks the shade makes us welcome.  I am grateful to Grayson for his interaction, for his interest in offering tools to understand and appreciate art.  Autobiography is a narrative, I think to myself, as I try to understand my fears.

And then, returning from cross town perambulations, I am driven to quench my thirst in the Mercato Metropolitano, a cultural and foodie hub in the deconsecrated church of St Mark’s, a Grade 1-listed building on North Audley Street.

It is cross-dressing in stone, an expression of the ongoing confusion of human endeavour.  Built as a temple to thought and faith, it is now an office for the pursuit of epicureanism  - but no matter: we are used to multiple personalities. 

And then, sated, it is time to follow the sun down through the quiet streets,

Past the Phantom of Liberty (remember the wallpaper?) where - according to Luis Buñuel - chance governs all things......

To stand with eager devotees to hear Pallas Athena [You mean Evita? Ed] intone her heartfelt imprecation to the people of her country as she faced her untimely death [Remember that we need not cry because (a) Evita got everything out of life she dreamed of, and (b) Argentina should cry for itself...... Ed]

Rachel Zegler as Eva Perón (Grayson's sister?)
on the balcony of the London Palladium
{Avenida 9 de Julio}

So many duplicates.  So much duplicity.  The tenuous links between film and art, between life and imagination.  Which is real?  Which is true?  It is all part of the game.  That sparkling game that is life.....

Oxford Street, early

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.

Lao Tzu

Siena

 Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300 ‒1350

Siena Cathedral

The National Gallery in London is currently inviting us to:

Step into Siena. It’s the beginning of the 14th century in central Italy. A golden moment for art, a catalyst of change. Artists Duccio, Simone Martini and the brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti are forging a new way of painting.....

Il Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

And it is a stunning exhibition:

Duccio:  The Virgin and Child Enthroned with Angels

Little is known about Duccio di Buoninsegna, the greatest painter of the Sienese school, who was active from 1278 to 1318. His masterpiece is the Maestà, a double-sided altarpiece created between 1308 and 1311.  

The whole piece was about five metres high and five metres wide and it has a wide central panel with the Virgin and Child adored by the patrons of Siena and surrounded by saints and angels, all created with tempera and gold leaf. The main panel and the bulk of the narrative scenes are now in the Museo dell’Opera Metropolitana, Piazza del Duomo, Siena.

Duccio was probably assisted in this work by his pupil Simone Martini (c 1284 - 1344) who did several frescos in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, among other works, and Pietro Lorenzetti, who painted this Polyptych in 1320:

And his brother Ambrogio, who painted this Annunciation in 1344, with Gabriel and Mary's words tooled into the gold leaf:

The exhibition has been organised by the National Gallery and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and contains over a hundred exhibits made by artisans working in Siena, Naples, Avignon and beyond, and is open until the 22nd of June.

The Marriage of the Virgin 
Niccolò di Buonaccorso (active 1355 - 1388)

So, with minds full of golds and blues, we leave the exhibition and walk out along the avenue at Middelharnis....

The Avenue at Middelharnis - Meindert Hobbema (1689)

Into Hyde park, where the blue pedalos are out on the Serpentine:

Homeward 2020 - Arpita Singh

Under the blues and golds of the Serpentine Pavilion 2025,

A Capsule in Time
Marina Tabassum

And in the Serpentine South Gallery in Kensington Gardens, Giuseppe Penone  is showing Thoughts in the Roots, with a golden  representation of a respiratory system in a room lined with laurel leaves.  More Italy; more gold....

Respirare L'Ombra (To Breathe the Shadow)
Giuseppe Penone (Garessio, Italy, 1947 - )

While outside, we walk by three life-size bronze trees, one of them shattered by lightning to reveal its golden heart:

Albero folgorato (Thunderstruck Tree) 2012
Giuseppe Penone

The sun begins to slip away, golden against the lapis lazuli blue of sky and Serpentine, Sienese colours at their best,

And Albert sits quietly under his angels, golden against the fading blue,

The Albert Memorial

I take refuge in my lodging, which glows with gold,

To dream of darkling Siena in my golden slumber.

San Domenico, Siena

Inside this northern summer's fold

The fields are full of naked gold,

Broadcast from heaven on lands it loves;

The green veiled air is full of doves;

Soft leaves that sift the sunbeams let

Light on the small warm grasses wet

Fall in short broken kisses sweet,

And break again like waves that beat

Round the sun's feet.

Algernon Charles Swinburne

Siena

A Group of Four Poor Clares
Ambrogio Lorenzetti (c 1325)

My favourite place; I look forward to returning:

Il Duomo di Siena

You'll never walk alone

I can see clearly now

After the driest spring on record, it is time for the clouds to gather, 

For the sky to draw up water from the sea.  For the light to fade, and the temperature to drop.

The land needs refreshment,

Let's just say that after years of metaphorical drought, a little rain isn't going to hurt.

No matter how dark the skies become.... 

It is only temporary. It is only passing clouds.....

And here it comes....

I raise my eyes to the sky, wondering if I will be soaked,

And find that I don't really care.

Indeed, it is welcome.  Life had become parched, and had withered like the plants in the dry fields.  

So when the sky lightens and the clouds begin to break up, I can see clearly....

And, like the symbols they have become, scarlet poppies wave across the resting fields,

Ox-eye daisies open up to face  the sun,

Under blue, sunny skies,

And I feel like singing (to myself.....)

Walk on through the wind

Walk on through the rain

For your dreams be tossed and blown

Walk on, walk on

With hope in your heart

And you'll never walk alone

You'll never walk alone

Richard Rodgers and 

Oscar Hammerstein II

I think I can make it now the pain is gone

All of the bad feelings have disappeared

Here is that rainbow I've been praying for

It's gonna be a bright (Bright), bright sun shiny day

I can see clearly now; the rain is gone

I can see all obstacles in my way

Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind

It's gonna be a bright, bright sun shiny day

It's gonna be a bright, bright sun shiny day

Johnny Nash

I Can See Clearly Now