SIR GRAYSON PERRY C.B.E, R.A. (BRITISH 1960-) FOR SELFRIDGES & CO. §
ALAN MEASLES EVENING BAG, 2010
Estimate: £300 - £500
Auction: Day Sale (Lots 52 to 481) - 26 April at 10am
Description
Embroidered cotton with embellishments, 124/300, numbered in black ink to label, with original Selfridges & Co. label, manufactured by Kit Grover
Dimensions
33cm x 24cm (13in x 9.5in)
Provenance
Private Collection, London.
Footnote
“I’ve never seen myself as a potter or as part of the crafts movement. I am a conceptual artist masquerading as a craftsman” Grayson Perry
Controversial, creative and incredibly humorous, Sir Grayson Perry CBE RA Hon FRIBA (1960 -) has dominated media headlines for over 20 years since winning the Turner Prize in 2003. Delighting in the combination of opposites, Perry’s work creates an intriguing fusion between form and content by transforming classical objects with unexpected or explicit imagery. In this way Perry captivates his audience, simultaneously stimulating feelings of attraction and surprise.
“In life, as in art, I have been dusted with the perversion brush” Grayson Perry
Alan Measles: teddy bear, alter ego and now cult object has become one of Perry’s most popular and enduring motifs. Featuring in works as diverse as Vote Alan Measles for God, Outsider Alan, and The Near Death and Enlightenment of Alan Measles, Alan’s persona is under constant re-invention. Alan is the sole focus of the handbag depicted on one side as happy and joyous in a pretty dress and bow reminiscent of Perry’s alter ego Claire. On the other side Alan is stripped back, naked and seemingly angry. Whilst Perry may be depicting his own personalities through the guise of his childhood toy, he is also offering the wearer the opportunity to do the same by displaying the side of the handbag which best represents them in that moment. It is perhaps people’s ability to relate and interact with Perry’s work in this way which makes it so enduringly popular.