Grayson Perry, The Island of Bad Art, 2013. Etching.
All images courtesy of Sotheby’s London, Made in Britain, March 25, 2015, Lot 3
As TEFAF is currently in full swing, this year we are following from afar, keeping busy with the thrills and minutiae of our buttoned-up project schedules. We were excited to find this etching by Grayson Perry among our auction preview selections, as its tongue-and-cheek visual rehashes an age old discussion of “Bad Art” in a purely visual and amusing way.
The etching, conceived as a faux-16th-century map of an island that looks suspiciously like Venice, uses satirical place names to list the characteristics that define, according to Mr. Perry, bad art: “mainstream,” “corny retro,” “vaguely decorative” and “kitsch,” among others.
Putting together the pieces and parts to tell the client’s story is what we do here every day, and we constantly grapple with how to best honor the history of that individual while suggesting art that is tasteful, intelligent, and not “bad”, which is such a subjective term!
Needless to say, we commend and are amused by Perry’s commentary on the art world with this work, are drawn in by the beauty of his objects for which he is best known, and slapped awake by the darker narratives he includes. Not all work is for everyone, which is the joy in the process of finding your own unique collecting sphere.
This piece is up for auction on March 25 at Sotheby’s with an estimate: 5,000 – 7,000 GBP. Click here for more information.
If you love maps and contemporary art (as we do), you may also be interested in the work of Guillermo Kuitca, Julie Mehretu or Loren Munk.
