The Holburne Museum - Grayson & His Influences
Having an office in Bath presents us at WOOLF Interior Architecture & Design with so many opportunities to visit beautiful Georgian buildings and to soak up their history. We are always inspired to create interiors mixing both traditional and contemporary colours with art work whilst always respecting the wonderful historic nature of a building. Explore WOOLF historic projects.
We attended the opening of Grayson Perry’s show where his work was displayed within the traditional grand setting of the Holburne Museum in Bath. The museum itself sits at the end of a stunning and historic Georgian parade of Great Pulteney Street. We were there to see the works of our ‘national treasure’ ceramicist and artist Grayson Perry.
The opening of the exhibition was absolutely buzzing with excitement, a huge swell of ‘whose, whose’ who in the arts had descended upon this great institution for the night. Artists, art historians, art critics, collectors, designers and writers from the epicenter of the British and European arts scene were gathering in Bath for this formidable opening. Including the very wonderful and endlessly chic agent Victoria Miro who is Grayson’s Agent and who represents some 40 international artists and artist estates. Explore WOOLF Curate projects.
Miro writes of Grayson Perry that he 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 transvestism – 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 its 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.’
Verity first met Grayson Perry when Wendy Jones, prolific novelist, Grayson’s biographer, friend and studio companion, introduced them. ‘Wendy was an old friend of Grayson’s - they met in a therapy centre over twenty years ago - and she went on to write his biography called Portrait of an Artist as a Young Girl. It tells the story of Grayson’s early life until he arrives in London at 24 and explains the forces and family circumstances that helped shape him as an artist’.
Grayson one of our favourite living iconic British artists. He manages to bring the old and the new, the highbrow and low brow, edginess and elegance together in a fun and comfortable manner. His work provided an exciting contrast to the building and the works in the museum and a curious link to Sir Thomas William Holburne who was the epitome of refined traditional aristocracy and who left the museum to ‘The People of Bath’. Explore WOOLF historic projects.
The show is a really interesting and exceptional juxtaposition between the formal and traditional works which are the staple of the museum and Grayson Perry’s ceramic take on modern life. The exhibition was billed as being “The first exhibition to survey Grayson Perry’s earliest forays into the art world will re-introduce the explosive and creative works he made between 1982 and 1994. These ground-breaking ‘lost’ pots will be reunited for the first time to focus on the formative years of one of Britain’s most recognisable artists.”
The show, which opened in January 2020, is particularly special because many of the 70 items on display have been crowd-sourced from across the UK, following a hugely successful appeal to the public in 2018. Grayson Perry notes “This show has been such a joy to put together, I am really looking forward to seeing these early works again many of which I have not seen since the eighties. It is as near as I will ever get to meeting myself as a young man, an angrier, priapic me with huge energy but a much smaller wardrobe.”
Today, Perry – and his instantly-recognisable alter-ego, Claire – enjoys a reputation bordering on National Treasure status by virtue of his distinctive tapestry, collage and ceramic works – that often explore themes of gender, identity and social class – and his remarkable work as a witty social commentator on television and in print.
The Holburne exhibition displays some of his earliest works – pots, plates and sculptures – that first made Perry’s name, and they shine a light on his experimentation and exploration of the potential of pottery to address radical issues and human stories. For art lovers, “Grayson Perry: The Pre-Therapy Years” represents a unique opportunity to enjoy the artist’s clever, playful and politically-engaged perspective on the world through a number of pieces, many of which have not been seen in public since they were first exhibited. Often challenging and explicit, these works reveal the early development of Perry’s distinctive voice that has established him as one of the most compelling commentators on contemporary society. Explore WOOLF Curate projects.
The Holburne Museum first opened its doors to the public in 1893 after the death of last remaining sister of Sir Thomas William Holburne died. Between them, Sir Thomas and his 3 sisters, none of whom ever married, spent their lives travelling and collecting amazing art works from around the world. It is these items that still today provide a museum full of exciting art works and objects to see and be inspired by. Explore WOOLF Curate projects.
This collection has been added to over the years and now includes many historic and modern artists in the collection including Gainsborough, Guardi, Stubbs, Ramsay, Turner and Zoffany.
Whilst the museum will always share and respect its historic background it is not averse to keeping itself up-to-date as well. In 2008 the architect Eric Parry worked with the museum to modernise its galleries and to create and build a striking modern glass extension to the year of the main Georgian house which is now home to a bright and open garden cafe on the ground floor. Above the cafe sits a modern exhibition room which is houses the many visiting exhibitions the museum curates. Explore WOOLF Curate projects.
The museum itself has an open garden surrounding it which is often filled with external exhibitions in the summer. The back of the museum sits at the edge of the beautiful Sydney Gardens which offers the visitor the chance to perambulate whilst discussing the latest art exhibition just as visitors to the museum have been doing since it first opened.
Winner of the 2003 Turner Prize, Perry was elected a Royal Academician in 2012, and received a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2013; he has been awarded the prestigious appointments of Trustee of the British Museum and Chancellor of the University of the Arts London (both in 2015), and received a RIBA Honorary Fellowship in 2016.
Here is a really interesting short video about Grayson Perry’s dream House build:
