An exhibition on the British artist, Grayson Perry, has just opened at Kiasma, Helsinki (13 April – 2 September). Folk Wisdom reviews the artist’s personal observations of modern society, and subjects such as Brexit, aesthetic taste and masculine ideals. It is an exhibition of almost fifty works, including classical ceramic pots and large tapestries, bronze and iron works. As the exhibition will reveal, Perry is a practitioner of artisanal crafts and rejects conceptual art. But his ceramic pots are often highly illustrated with narrative scenes which can equally appear darkly humorous and intended to challenge what is widely regarded as so-called ‘good taste.
Perry has long been a choice artist of the British Council. Born in England in 1960, he studied at Braintree College of Further Education and later at Portsmouth Polytechnic. In 2003, he won the Turner Prize and in 2013 was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list. In 2015 the artist was chosen to deliver the prestigious Reith Lectures for the BBC. Fifteen Grayson Perry artworks form part of the British Council Collection of around 8500 works of modern and contemporary British art. You can view these, as well as more information about how British Council has worked with the artist, visit the British Council Visual Arts website.
