Grayson Perry, Unpopular Culture

Grayson Perry's selection from the Arts Council Collection featured figurative painting, bronze sculpture and documentary photography from the post-war period until c.1980. As the artist explained, 'Unpopular Culture stems from a notion that, in Britain during the period represented by this show, stories about art did not feature daily in the broadsheets nor did contemporary artists crop up frequently in gossip columns. A time when modern art did not attract crowds and was seen as a more rarefied activity, practised and appreciated by bohemians and intellectuals. The exhibition also refers to a feeling that many artists then made art that could be characterised as subtle, sensitive, lyrical and quiet in contrast to today when much art can seem like shouty advertisements for concepts or personalities. As a group, for me, these works conjure a nostalgic picture of a post-war, pre-Thatcherite Britain, more reflective, more civic and more humane.'