Grayson Perry’s new NSFW City-focused sculpture features George Osborne and pictures of City workers
What do George Osborne, Benjamin Franklin and Winston Churchill have in common? They’re just a few of the famous faces plastered across Grayson Perry’s new, er… sculpture.
The Turner prize-winning artist has created a 68cm monument to masculinity as a comment on the gender bias of the global banking industry.
The ceramic sculpture is covered in bank notes, images of City workers and photos of leading bankers and politicians. Perry seems particularly fond of chancellor George Osborne, who appears multiple times across the sculpture in a variety of photos.
Source: Channel 4
"There's no disputing what it is,” Perry said. "It's a big cock."
Quite.
Perry has named his latest creation "Object in Foreground": he hopes it will eventually find its way into the lobbies of some of London’s top banking firms, where it will spark debate.
“I was thinking of an object that could hold its own among all the marble (of the City lobbies) but drew attention to the unquestioned maleness of its world,” said Perry.
"Men dominate the financial centre especially at the top so I wanted to make something that said it's there all the time, it's the centre of gravity that's pulling us all in."
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Perry has been exploring the concept of masculinity in his Channel 4 documentary series Grayson Perry: All Man, and the final episode focuses on the male-dominated world of finance.
As well as the vase, he has revealed a woodblock print called ‘Animal Spirit’, which features a half-bull, half-bear male, branded with words such as “reasonable”, “objective” and “serious”.
Perry said that he wanted to get across the message that the financial sector is still cloaked in masculinity, regardless of market behaviour, adding: "the beast still lurks, but he's very well-behaved.
Both Animal Spirit and Object in Foreground are on temporary display at The Shard in London and will be featured on the final episode of Perry's All Man series, which concludes tonight.
Let hope this is the biggest cock-up to reach the City this year….