Community Turn To 'Queer Icon' To Lift Lockdown Curse

A gallery in a small isolated community tucked away in the cliffs of North Devon, England has been host to some bizarre events. A huge light box of a portrait of the self-declared tranvestite potter and winner of the Turner Prize Grayson Perry has been shining a light from the gallery window during lockdown. 

Gallery owner and expert in mid 20th century fine art pottery Tim Williams has held Grayson Perry in the highest esteem and saw the opportunity to show the lightbox by artist Richard Ansett as tribute to his contemporary hero not realising the remarkable turn of events that would transpire.

“The pandemic has taken its toll on our collective mental health and as some of the lockdown restrictions lifted we noticed what we could only presume were ‘offerings’ left on the doorstep as tribute to our secular icon.” said Tim.

“I turned up one morning to find a can of SPAM on the doorstep and then on another occasion a packet of McVities Rich Tea biscuits and I started to think something might be happening.” 

Since then the gallery has cautiously opened its doors and encouraged the pilgrimage to the alter. The local community have also responded bringing handmade objects, natural as well as supermarket bought offerings.

Retired couple Rene and Cathy came to the gallery with wild strawberries, Bisto Gravy Granules and Jacobs Cream Crackers. 

“Lockdown has been very hard on us and many of our friends and neighbours” says Cathy “we hope that our offering to the alter will lift the curse of Covid-19 on our little village.”

Self-identifying non-binary teen and by coincidence Perry’s namesake Grayson admits he bought the first offering to the gallery steps.

“Spam’s a big thing in Lynton” says Grayson “I wanted to leave a tribute and I just took some Spam from my mum’s house and left it outside the gallery. It doesn’t feel easy sometimes being young and different in a small village especially in lockdown and this amazing picture of a man in a wig holding a baby made me feel less alone and like everything was going to be alright.” 

The portrait consigned to Tim Williams Fine Art Gallery in Lynton by artist/photographer Richard Ansett is an “inglorious pink extravaganza” of art historical and religious references. The national treasure Grayson Perry is captured in the traditional conceit of mother and child surrounded by the “shameless campery” of organza and fake flowers bathed in a halo of light. Not the traditional fair one might think for an area known for its predominantly conservative views. 

Ansett’s appropriation of Perry into what he calls a "faux religious queer icon" came to Lynton from a world tour following its success at the Sony World Photography Awards, a residency at Fitzrovia Chapel, London where it was displayed alone on the alter and the Format and Arles Photo Festival. Whilst at Fitzrovia Chapel the artwork transformed from bombastic challenge to the status quo to a genuine icon in its own right and statement of the right to the sacred for all.

Tim Williams has big plans for Lynton, an art festival is high on his list to compete with Damien Hirst’s dominance of nearby Ilfracombe. “This is one of the most beautiful parts of England” says Tim “steeped in British art history. We feel the new normal could be something very special for everyone. We invite everyone to come, bring offerings to the alter in solidarity with all people that feel different and share in the beauty of nature and art.”

BIRTH: A Portrait of Grayson Perry by Richard Ansett will be on permanent display throughout 2021 at Tim Williams Fine Art, 1 Castle Hill, Lynton EX35 6JA.

Extended Caption

I have been asked by the National Portrait Gallery London for an extended caption that might bring some insights in the creation of 'Grayson Perry, Starr Auditorium, Tate Modern, 2013' for the upcoming exhibition at Chelmsford Museum, Spring 2020.

Submitted Draft

'It would not be original to describe the Starr Auditorium at Tate Modern as ‘womb-like’, the deep red envelopes you and like a foetus I was looking for the exit when I found this corner. It challenges reality just enough for it to lend a hand in examining this unique and complex subject. This portrait is a record of the first time I met Grayson Perry.

I consider my most successful portraits to be when I am able to document the literal first meeting with my subjects, they are invited in front of the lens without any conventional niceties and often in silence. In a portrait of the famous the resulting awkwardness and vulnerability can feel like iconoclasm but not in a negative sense, I am accidentally de-constructing the myths of celebrity because my main interest is in examining the human condition it masks. I enjoy photographing artists but there is a particular challenge in photographing Grayson Perry, who can present an alternative, equally valid persona ‘Claire’. Claire’s appearance is so radical as to parody the very notion of persona and in this first opportunity to represent her I was determined not to be seduced by the vivid character that protects him. Her otherwise infectious demeanour was met by a deliberate ambivalence that inspired this briefest glimpse that now represents the serious and powerful figure of the contemporary art world, influencer and commentator on the British national character…in a dress.

Perry has spoken to me since about the experience of being the subject of a photograph as ‘observing the photographer with equal fascination’ and this has remained with me since as the closest thing I can share about what he is like. It is the very definition of empathy, to step out of one’s ego in the true exploration of the reality of another person's life. Perry is the poster girl for an empathy with a more complex idea of what Britishness is, it is closer to a lot of people’s reality, not in any narrow definition of gender or sexuality, but existentially. This is his most generous aspect, like any artist the extremes of vulnerability and ego exist within him but he allows us to form our own relationship to him, projecting our own thoughts and feelings onto Claire and she loves the attention.'

The Heteronormative State

Grayson Perry - BIRTH MOTHER © Richard Ansett 2018

It might feel comfortable and safe to sit within the confines of a clearly defined existence and judge others but it is not secure ground. Certainly the previously dominant structures that set out our world are now seen increasingly as merely other ways of living and in a free society even bigots are welcome as we recognise the pathetic hubris of their superiority.

The complications of accepting personal responsibility for our lives and the accompanying existential loneliness are prices we pay to break free of oppressive forms of traditional identity. We increasingly exist in parallel to the passive aggressive bully that is the stereotype and 'minority' is an increasingly archaic term.

'Queer' has evolved from the reclamation of an abuse to become an inclusive definition that allows us all to share in the complex relationship to what has been identified as the 'heteronormative state.'

The heteronormative state should be defined as the oppressor not just of those broadly defined by sexuality. It is the fabric within which we all function evolved over centuries, the historic legacy is stitched into the foundations and structures that frame our lives. It cannot be torn down so easily like a statue but we can scratch and nudge at it with tools like the zeitgeist.

In my latest collaboration with Grayson Perry the focus is on the tireless motif of mother and child for the 21st century. Claire is not a natural mother, it is a trans- immaculate conception.

A very limited edition giclée available through SINGULART

Reflected Glory

Meet art handlers Matt, Neil and Danny from the National Portrait Gallery, they're installing the portrait of Grayson Perry, Starr Auditorium, Tate Modern' acquired for the permanent collection.

It is the only photograph in Room 32 Contemporary Portraits, otherwise entirely devoted to paintings by Lucian Freud, Andy Warhol, Howard Hodgkin, R.B.Kitaj and many more.

Grayson Perry installation, National Portrait Gallery © NPG 2014

Grayson Perry installation, National Portrait Gallery © NPG 2014

Grayson Perry installation, National Portrait Gallery © NPG 2014

Grayson Perry, Room 32,  National Portrait Gallery, London © Richard Ansett 2014

Ladies First

This is the third time I have worked with Grayson Perry (or fourth if you count him in a hard hat, which was not overly flattering; we don't talk about that).

We set up a studio in his studio to shoot an enormous amount of material for CH4's new documentary 'Who are You? in conjunction with Perry's new display at the National Portrait Gallery (private view tonight, hot ticket!)

Perry's studio is deliberately devoid of artworks; he explained that he was easily influenced in the moment of creation so kept the space very clear, except one image of him as 'Claire' taken at the BAFTAs. Most of the images of him as Claire are bombastic and playful but this is serene and she looks rather pretty. I asked him about it and he said 'it was important to feel beautiful'. I am uncertain if I was the right person to make that dream come true for him! ;)

Our portrait was recently pushed off the cover of the Radio Times by the upstart Sir David Attenborough; I never really liked him.

My first image of him at the Reith lectures in 2013 shot for the BBC, has recently been hung in the National Portrait Gallery, Contemporary Portraits Room 32, check it out.

Grayson Perry & Richard Ansett at Perry's London Studio, 2014 © Leon Foggitt (assistant)

Instinct

Def: 1. An inborn pattern of behavior that is characteristic of a species and is often a response to specific environmental stimuli:

Def: 2. A misappropriated word that excuses an inability to understand or explain the motivations behind decision-making.

There is an immediate emotional reaction to events that can only be evaluated in hindsight. Photography, especially that which explores reality, is a record of that unique but universal response to the moment, it is la petite mort. That which is selected to be shown, is an insight into the personality of the observer and has always been my primary interest. To unravel the forces that motivate instinct is key to progress; these elements are the undercurrent, the third dimension that exists beyond the conventional narratives and aesthetics.

Photography exposes the level of personal progress of both the protagonist and the critic, this is possible to read but is limited to our own unique understanding. Grayson Perry recently mused at the Reith Lectures, (I’m paraphrasing) “I don’t get certain great artists now but I know I will one day, but I am not there yet.” This is an acknowledgement that any understanding of the world is imbued with the experience of the observer.

The only real barrier to progress is cynicism. The element of doubt over the authentic motives behind art is inevitable in such a broad church. Genuineness however is the antidote; no matter how insane it cannot be faked and for me is the arbiter for identifying work of value. It is defined by a relentless passion and belief for a concept so immersing that it defeats the conventional ambition to succeed; it doesn’t even have to be ‘good’. In fact, it’s quite important (relative to the established rules of aesthetics), that it isn’t.

"There's nothing so absurd that if you repeat it often enough, people will believe it." - William James (1842-1910)

To make progress, one must actually ‘become’ more; progress must be made on a fundamental level. As experience and knowledge expand, the perspective on the shared universal space alters and there is a greater chance of developing a unique signature in responding to the moment. It is inevitable and hugely rewarding, but it is a ‘Pandora’s Box’. The alternative though is to be exposed to the lowest possible common denominators that define society.

Image_3599, Woman with Grandmother's Curtains @ Richard Ansett 2014