Grayson Perry

 Last month I went to see an exhibition of Grayson Perry's work at the Wallace Collection in London. Perry is a British artist best known for his ceramics and tapestries. He is also a cross dresser with an alto ego called Clare. For this exhibition, Delusions of Grandeur, he had created another alter ego, Shirley Smith. The fictional Smith considers herself the heir to the Wallace Collection. The exhibition is curated by Perry around Shirley's life and artistic obsessions, including family trees and the Wallace Collection itself. I have included Perry's explanations and insights into his work.

Perry dressed as Shirley seated in the Wallace Collection Museum.

 

Herons

 As I walked by the Thames yesterday I spotted 3 grey herons.

This is the North bank of the River Thames near the old East India dock. The tide was out and the heron was not disturbed by people walking on the Thames Path. It probably knew we couldn't access the shoreline. Across the river is the O2 arena at Greenwich Peninsula. 

Not too far away is Bow Creek which flows into the river Thames with the buildings of Canning Town in the background. Two herons were hoping to catch something for lunch.

 

 

A not very good close up of the grey heron. They are a common sight in London these days.

The Tower Remembers

The Tower of London created a poppy display called 'The Tower Remembers' a few months ago which will be removed later this year. It is on display within the Tower walls. Tens of thousands of the original ceramic poppies which flooded the moat in 2014 have been used. This time they have been arranged as a 'wound' at the heart of the Tower from which they form a crater and flow outwards. The Tower was bombed during the war resulting in injuries and death.

The 30,000 poppies were given to the Imperial War Museum after the display in 2014. This is the first time they have returned for this year's memorial of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War 2