Playing to the Gallery: Helping Contemporary Art in its Struggle to Be Understood by Grayson Perry

 

Author: Grayson Perry

Title: Playing to the Gallery: Helping Contemporary Art in its Struggle to Be Understood

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2016

Pages: 144

Genre: Non-Fiction 

     Now Grayson Perry is a fully paid-up member of the art establishment, he wants to show that any of us can appreciate art (after all, there is a reason he's called this book Playing to the Gallery and not 'Sucking up to an Academic Elite'). Based on his hugely popular BBC Radio 4 Reith Lectures and full of pictures, this funny, personal journey through the art world answers the basic questions that might occur to us in an art gallery but seem too embarrassing to ask.

     The world of art has long been a part of mine. Growing up with an artist for a mom means that to some extent or another it has been there for me. As I grew up I was fortunate enough to visit art galleries all over the world which means I have seen works from Leonardo and Raphael to Kathe Kollwitz, Olafur Eliasson, and Tracey Eminn. But this doesn't mean I always understand it, some times I will look at a piece and scratch my head and think what going on here. I am at a loss as to just what the artist is trying to convey. And more often than not you are surrounded by people from the art world making grand and convoluted statements about this and that. But I find myself ask do they have a better understanding than me or are they, in fact, all slightly terrified of being found out to be a fraud not knowing any more than myself but just too afraid to admit it. 

     So then I come to Grayson Perry a guy I only found out about recently due to his T.V program Big American Road Trip. He has a way of making it all seem very accessible and welcoming no matter how you come to view art. I suppose in part it's because he uses a language that doesn't require you to have spent years at art college or have a parent with their own private collection. He wants people to learn and enjoy what they are seeing rather than keeping for the few. And for me that's is what he has down with this book. He has set out to help us from the safety of our own homes. None of us need to stand in a Gallery and feel stupid for not understanding. Thorugh this book he helps to lift that veil from the world and say that it's ok to not always understand and in the same breath we also don't have to like everything we see. Even if that means you only like one piece by an artist and nothing else that's ok. 

     To some extent whilst the contemporary art world has been around for so long it is now just the accepted way. it feels like a very big shift happened in the eighties.  Art not only became about how much it could shock us but also about possessing it no matter the cost. Art becomes a commodity for the newly rich and it no longer needs content rather it was about telling the world I own a piece by this artist. So where does that live the like of us that get to see it on a day pass to the gallery? In all honesty, I'm not sure but in this book, I feel I have come to have a slightly better understanding of this world. Grayson has shown me that he is just as good an author as he is an artist. Not only did I manage to learn a great deal but also have a few laughs along the way. He is a guy who can see the absurdity of the art world but also still love it.  

     This is a book that I would definitely suggest you give a go if you are just starting to get into the Contemporary art world. it will make it all seem a little less frightening and down to earth. And whilst the art world maybe insular enough that it doesn't really need the paying public to exist that doesn't mean you should get you feet wet and find a place for yourself in it.