Grayson Perry @ The British Museum
Grayson Perry
‘The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman’ - until the 19th Feb at The British Museum.
OK This show has been on for a while…. but you must get down there if you can before it shuts because IT’S BLOODY BRILLIANT !!! In our humble opinion : )
Grayson Perry has curated an installation of his new works alongside objects made by unknown men and women throughout history from the British Museum’s collection.
He’ll take you to an afterlife conjured from his imaginary world, exploring a range of themes connected with notions of craftsmanship and sacred journeys – from shamanism, magic and holy relics to motorbikes, identity and contemporary culture.
Vases covered in witty captions, elaborate tapestries and the centrepiece, a richly decorated cast iron coffin-ship, are displayed alongside objects from the past two million years of culture and civilisation. From the first great invention, the hand axe, to a Hello Kitty pilgrim hand-towel, you will discover a reality that is old and new, poetic and factual, and funny as well as grim.
With darkly satirical humour Perry looks to our own society, and in particular mourns the absence of religious devotion and craftsmanship. His curation is carefully cut to show how, fascinatingly, the spiritual and tactile worlds have gone hand-in-hand in almost every other world culture except our own.
‘This is a memorial to all the anonymous craftsmen that over the centuries have fashioned the manmade wonders of the world…
The craftsman’s anonymity I find especially resonant in an age of the celebrity artist.’
Grayson Perry RA, Turner Prize winner
British Museum,
Great Russell Street,
London,
WC1B 3DG
