The Edinburgh Reporter April 2023

18 WHAT’S ON

CULTURE • LITERATURE • ART • EVENTS • MUSIC • MUSEUMS...

Grayson Perry: Smash Hits!

Robert Philip’s new book: A Little History of Music

A journey from evening classes to becoming a knight of the realm

By OLIVIA THOMAS

THE BIGGEST ever exhibition of Sir

Grayson Perry’s art will take place in

Edinburgh. Tickets are now on sale for

Grayson Perry: Smash Hits which will

be the big draw at the Royal Scottish

Academy (RSA) from July to November.

The artist has progressed from taking

evening classes in pottery to winning

the Turner Prize. Today he is one of

Britains most celebrated artists and

cultural figures and the exhibition will

feature his most famous works and also

the first pieces he made as a student.

More than 80 works will be on

display in the Upper Galleries of the

RSA from Perry’s tapestries (one 15-feet

long) to meticulously detailed prints

and imaginary maps.

Sir Grayson Perry said: “I feel

honoured, excited and also daunted by

the thought of seeing the largest ever

exhibition of my work this summer in

Edinburgh. Honoured to be given such

an opportunity in such a fine gallery,

excited to share my smash hits with the

Scottish audience and the festival

crowds. Daunted because whenever I

walk amongst a substantial show of my

art the same thought floods into my

head, ‘oh my god the man hours!’ Just

one of the grand rooms like those of the

Royal Scottish Academy could easily

hold two, three, four years of my studio

life such is the density of my works.

These objects contain so much for me,

my hopes, my ideas, my lusts, my

laughter, my pride, my love. What they

contain more than anything is my time.

Forty smashing years.”

Sir John Leighton, Director-General

of the National Galleries of Scotland,

said: “This exhibition, the biggest

Grayson Perry show ever held anywhere

in the world, offers a unique

opportunity for visitors to discover the

scope of the artist’s practice. It has been

forty years since Perry first started

making his pots and plates, and twenty

years since he gained international

acclaim when he won the Turner

Prize; it is the ideal moment to

celebrate Perry’s achievements.”

Grayson Perry: Smash Hits

RSA (presented by National

Galleries of Scotland)

22 July – 12 November 2023

http://www.nationalgalleries.org

EDINBURGH author Robert

Philip’s latest book is published

on 11 April. A Little History of

Music is part of the Yale

University Press series and

follows the adopted format of

40 chapters of around 2,

words each.

Robert (pictured left)

explained: “The book is aimed

at people who know little or

nothing about the subject. The

original book, Ernst Gombrich’s

Little History of the World was

written for a 17-year-old. And

he wrote it when he was a

research student in an

incredibly short time in the

1930s. And that was the model

on which the series was based

with it’s 40 Little chapters at

2000 words each. So it’s meant

to be really accessible to

everybody.”

The Edinburgh Reporter sat

down with Robert at his home

and his wife, concert pianist,

Susan Tomes, delighted us by

playing some Robert

Schumann from Bunte Blätter

(and all the while pointing out

that she had not even warmed

up beforehand).

Robert explained why he

wrote the book. He said: “When

I was a music student back in

the 1960s, at first at college,

then University, if you picked up

a history of music, it would just

be the history of Western

classical music.

“I decided to try and do

everything, which is ridiculous

in a tiny book like this, but I

thought I would at least try.”

Robert will give a talk at

Topping & Company 2 Blenheim

Place EH7 5JH on 12 April.