If there was ever an artist guaranteed to draw a crowd at London’s annual Royal Academy Summer Exhibition preview party, it’s Sir Grayson Perry. Dressed, as ever, like a walking artwork, he moves through the halls of the gallery – where he’s co-chairing this year’s exhibition – as though in a second home, with all the ease of someone who has spent a lifetime challenging what art and artists are ‘supposed’ to be.
Few have championed emerging creatives like Grayson. Whether inviting University of the Arts London fashion students to reinvent his famously memorable wardrobe during his eight years as chancellor or using his role as Royal Academician of the Royal Academy to shine a spotlight on new talent, he has always believed that great art comes from opening doors, not guarding them.
That ethos is exactly what makes the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition so special. Each year, for one brief season, established names hang alongside first-time exhibitors, giving visitors the chance to discover tomorrow's great artists – and perhaps even take a piece home.
Just before the party got into full swing, Grayson sat down with Service95 to share the cultural influences that continue to shape his life and work. From the adrenaline of the Isle of Man TT and the lasting impact of Koyaanisqatsi to the one mistake he believes almost every young artist makes today (aside from being “scrollaholics”), he epitomises how authenticity is the place where true craft begins. Here’s what’s on Grayson Perry’s Culture List.
