Grayson Perry's Art Club The Exhibition.

The time had come for the Art Club Exhibition and I received an email invite to the preview.

I am beyond excited and hope I get to meet Grayson in person. It will be so strange to see one of my paintings on the wall. I feel so fortunate.

I didn't know what to expect or what to wear!

The venue was well organised, busy, bustling and full of excitement. First, Grayson Perry made a speech to open the event, the Mayor of Bristol and a representative from Channel 4 also made speeches. Then Grayson Perry mingled with everyone, signing autographs and having 'selfies' with exhibitors. His wife Philippa was also very approachable and visible. Banksy's stencil to produce his mural Create Escape, a mural of a prisoner climbing down the walls of the now decommissioned Reading Prison, was in the Lower entrance area and made a great statement piece.

I was lucky enough to have a brief chat with Grayson, Philippa and the Head of Channel 4. As an exhibitor, I received a complimentary book of the exhibition, which I wasted no time asking Grayson to sign a genuinely memorable keepsake of a brilliant event.

The exhibition was over three floors, so a little more disjointed than the previous Art Club exhibition in Manchester. However, this was a Museum after all, and I found myself catching several pieces of Art Club exhibits in amongst the storehouse of old artefacts, sculptures and historical objects that the museum had to offer.

I was very interested in how these unusually shaped art pieces would be curated and showcased from canvases to bottles of smells, art that needed both sides in view, tables and even mannequins seated at a table. The exhibition guide was a great idea it mapped and guided us to the relevant places.

My art is framed in a beautiful black wood frame and sits in the Travel section on the second floor. It felt weird to see a piece of art that I had created actually on a wall. I am very humbled and fortunate to be part of such an emotional experience. This exhibition showcases how the power of art brings us all together and helps us in difficult times.

The art was varied, from celebrity pieces, to art made by people making meaning out of something that happened to all of us. By making art, and processing their experience of lockdown all the exhibitors were asking the viewers see lockdown through their eyes.

One of those exhibitors is Becky Tyler who made the below portrait of Grayson that I am standing next to (and the other landscape). The only thing she’s got complete control over in terms of her movement is her eye, and so she has done it all by blinking and gazing to make a picture. So her story is particularly incredible.

I met another exhibitor, Esther Jeanes, whom I will remain in contact with, and the description below shares her lockdown experience. Esther's art was curated at a 90-degree angle to the wall in three panels of her miniatures so that the viewer could see the date on the reverse. These small pieces are exquisitely painted from photographs. Esther wants to paint larger and experiment with oil paint in the future.

Another piece which stood out for me was the Joke Alphabet by Chloe Hanchen-Garner and Tom Hanchen, for its meaning of remembrance.

Russell Tovey's Joyce's Haring Bird had a simple but striking presence, maybe because of the monochrome and use of large brush strokes in house paint?

There are far too many pieces for me to review in detail but it truly is a fantastic insight into the world and how we viewed it from Lockdown, and through the medium of our choice.

The Evening Standard reviews the exhibition and I honestly didn't pay Mr Perry to stand in front my picture to advertise the exhibition in the link below!

The exhibition runs until September 2022

References

All images are my own.