Study day at a Grayson Perry curated show at the British Museum and William Morris at Temple Place

There are two gems of exhibitions coming up which will form the basis of a study visit on 19th November. Designed with textiles students in mind, it may also appeal to other visual arts students because of the breadth of coverage in these exhibitions. Grayson Perry has curated ‘The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman’ which runs from 6 October 2011 – 19 February 2012 at the British Museum. He has selected beautiful objects from the British Museum collection to sit alongside his recent ceramic works, which are themselves full of historical references. He says: ‘This is a memorial to all the anonymous craftsmen that over the centuries have fashioned the man-made wonders of the world… The craftsman’s anonymity I find especially resonant in an age of the celebrity artist.’ There is an excellent video of Grayson talking about the show here . We’ll go to the British Museum second, after a visit to the fabulous building II Temple Place, which is London’s newest exhibition space, though the building itself is certainly not new, but a richly festooned building, inside and out, worth visiting just for sake of it.

Two Temple Place is one of London’s hidden architectural gems, an extraordinary neo-Gothic mansion built for William Waldorf Astor and completed in 1895, on Embankment. The exhibition is about the life and work of William Morris, and will be the first time that this totally original example of late Victorian architecture, designed and built irrespective of cost, is fully open to the public. The theme of the exhibition echoes the distinctive late-Victorian interior of Two Temple Place, which is ornately decorated throughout with scenes and characters from literature. Astor had required a house ‘which would personify literature in addition to being representative of art, craft and architecture’, and it is this absorption in literature that links Morris with Astor. The Bulldog Trust has more information about this new exhibition space. More details of this exhibition here.

OCA students wishing to come on this diverse study day should email enquiries@oca-uk.com as soon as possible stating your name and mobile number, since places are limited and are allocated on a first-come first-served basis. The visit will start at 11.30am on 19th November at Temple Place, moving across to the British Museum at lunch time, and finishing with sharing samples and learning logs (as well as reflections on the day) in the tea room at the British Museum in the afternoon, aiming for everyone being on their way home by 4pm at the latest. The British Museum exhibition costs £10 to visit, but this fee will be covered by OCA.

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