Grayson Perry Chelmsford, Essex, Inglaterra, b. 1960
Village of the Penians, 2001
On loan from British Council Collection.
Ceramics
29 x 25 x 25 cm
Copyright The Artist
Further images
Grayson Perry is a prolific potter, a practice for which he is best known, and Village of the Penians exemplifies his use of ceramics as both medium and message. The work presents a fantasy English village where phallic forms have been embedded into scenes of everyday life highlighting how sexual imagery is tightly controlled in public culture despite saturating everyday social life. By juxtaposing childish motifs, militaristic symbols and historical references, the work links sexual taboo to wider narratives of power, violence and repression. Perry’s choice of ceramics is central to this social critique. Pottery, often associated with amateurism, domestic labour and working-class or hobbyist practice, is mobilised to challenge the hierarchies that separate fine art from craft.