Grayson Perry - Selfie with Political Causes

GRAYSON PERRY
S E L F I E W I T H P O L I T I C A L C A U S E S
Etching on wove paper
Signed on the front, numbered on verso
2018
103 x 70 cm
Signed Edition of 68
I made this print for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition that I curated in 2018.
The RA has these arcane rules written into its constitution, one of which is that
there have to be a certain number of painters, sculptors, architects and printmakers
among the Academicians at any one time. Somewhat bizarrely, I was elected as a
printmaker - so I thought I'd better make a print!
The image was inspired by an Indian miniature I saw: an equestrian portrait where
the horse was enormous and the person sitting on it was tiny. I was also playing
with the idea of riding a machine that has righteousness on its side - social justice
and equality - trampling over things like racisms, sexism, poverty and homophobia
with its big spiked tires. The unhelpful toxic waste coming out of the machine is
tolerance, free speech and democracy - things that the social-justice warriors really
struggle with.
I like the slight misregistering you get with a woodcut, and the chunky black line
that is very nice to work with. I love the way the ink gets really physical and thick
on these huge prints.
Grayson Perry