My Heroes thumbnail 1
My Heroes thumbnail 2
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images
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 142, The Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Gallery

My Heroes

Vase
1994 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry uses the domestic and decorative associations of ceramics to explore complex personal, social and cultural themes. This vase depicts motorcyclist Barry Sheene, punk singer Mark E. Smith, transsexual model April Ashley and 19th century artist Aubrey Beardsley. By placing them on a pottery vase, Perry assigns them the status of popular heroes in an imagined folk-art tradition.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleMy Heroes (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Earthenware, coil-built, incised and applied decoration, coloured slips and glazes, enamel, gilding
Brief description
Vase, 'My Heroes', Grayson Perry, London, 1994.
Physical description
Coil-built earthenware vase bearing portraits of Mark E. Smith, Barry Sheene, April Ashley and Aubrey Beardsley.
Dimensions
  • Height: 30.4cm
  • Diameter: 31.0cm
Marks and inscriptions
Seal mark incorporating a 'W' above an anchor, impressed
Gallery label
Grayson Perry (born 1960) ‘My Heroes’ 1994 Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry uses the domestic and decorative associations of ceramics to explore complex personal, social and cultural themes. This vase depicts motorcyclist Barry Sheene, punk singer Mark E. Smith, transsexual model April Ashley and 19th century artist Aubrey Beardsley. By placing them on a pottery vase, Perry assigns them the status of popular heroes in an imagined folk-art tradition. Made in London Earthenware, coil-built and glazed, with incised decoration Museum no. C.10-2009. Bought with the assistance of Dennis and Charlotte Stevenson(18/09/2009)
Credit line
Bought with the assistance of Dennis and
Charlotte Stevenson
Subjects depicted
Summary
Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry uses the domestic and decorative associations of ceramics to explore complex personal, social and cultural themes. This vase depicts motorcyclist Barry Sheene, punk singer Mark E. Smith, transsexual model April Ashley and 19th century artist Aubrey Beardsley. By placing them on a pottery vase, Perry assigns them the status of popular heroes in an imagined folk-art tradition.
Bibliographic references
  • Yoshioka, Emiko (ed.). My Civilisation: Grayson Perry. Kanazawa: 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, 2007. pp. 22-23, 105.
  • This object features in 'Out on Display: A selection of LGBTQ-related objects on display in the V&A', a booklet created by the V&A's LGBTQ Working Group. First developed and distributed to coincide with the 2014 Pride in London Parade, the guide was then expanded for the Queer and Now Friday Late that took place in February 2015.
  • Owens, Susan, The Art of Drawing British Masters and Methods since 1600, V&A Publishing, London, 2013, p. 164, fig. 132
Collection
Accession number
C.10-2009

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Record createdApril 30, 2009
Record URL
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