Acting Legend Paul Ritter Passes Away at Age 54
Tribute to actor Paul Ritter
Featured image: Manchester Art Gallery
Proving to be a light-hearted triumph of divine escapism, Grayson’s Art Club is back this February for a brand-new series, as part of Channel 4’s #BubbleUpWithAll4 campaign.
Conceived last April during the first national lockdown, the show followed Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry and his wife Philippa as they navigated the pandemic from their North-London studio. Over the course of six episodes they chatted with celebrity guests via video call about the ways art has kept them occupied throughout these unprecedented times.
Due to air on 26th of February at 8pm, the format is expected to remain relatively unchanged, seeing Grayson discuss artwork sent in by the public in response to a weekly theme. However, after the show received over 10,000 contributions during series one, the episode themes have been announced in advance to give participants more time to prepare.
Themes for series two include: family, nature, food, dreams, work and travel, respectively.
ANNOUNCEMENT!!!#GraysonsArtClub returns in February!
— Grayson Perry (@Alan_Measles) January 8, 2021
Website https://t.co/ZbGqOynYwA is open for your submissions.
Here is @Philippa_Perry and me telling you the weekly themes.
We are so looking forward to seein what you have made. pic.twitter.com/mRFLTq3wnW
The return of the hit series was met with enthusiasm over social media, as thousands praised Art Club for ushering in a new-found sense of optimism for the nation. Many claimed the show unleashed their captive creativity which had otherwise been repressed by the expectations and pressures of pre-Covid life.
#GraysonsArtClub is one of the most life affirming things Ive watched. So happy it's back for another season. @Alan_Measles @Philippa_Perry and all the artists are so lovely it's making me emosh about resilence and creativity during the pandemic š¢š¢š¢
— Nadia Idle (@NotJustYouHere) January 31, 2021
Canāt wait to get stuck in and create some artwork based on the topics featured in the new series of #GraysonsArtClub. Iām so happy itās back š
— Phoebe Barton (@PheebBarton) January 31, 2021
In keeping with Covid-19 restrictions, the show was filmed remotely using stationary cameras; this pared-back production allowing for the simple – and sometimes beautiful – mundanity of life in lockdown to unfold organically. It offered a curious insight into the world of celebrity, with the likes of Jim Moir and Noel Fielding sharing their experiences of solitude from the intimate setting of their fronts rooms or kitchen tables – sometimes to humorous ends, others to starkly profound.
The show’s domestic surroundings also granted access to the creative process of an artist of Grayson’s stature, predominantly known for his ceramics depicting scenes of social and political interest. The viewers were privy to the formation of pandemic-inspired original pieces alongside Grayson’s honest and perceptive narrative, which often noted how art is not only a medium to find solace, but a means to record moments of our forming history.
In amongst Grayson’s work features frequent appearances from his childhood teddy bear Alan Measles, and Art Club was no exception. This time his muse took a sculptural form as the pandemic’s ‘protective spirit’ and is set to appear alongside a plethora of the public’s contributions in a highly-anticipated exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery.
Due to open on the 25th of November 2020, the exhibition faced significant delays due to the tightening of Covid-19 restrictions, with a rescheduled date yet to be announced.
Here's a first look at Grayson Perry (@Alan_Measles) behind the scenes at @mcrartgallery filming for Grayson's Art Club: The Exhibition on @Channel4 Friday 4 December at 8pm. šØšļø pic.twitter.com/5eMVVblzds
— Channel 4 Press (@C4Press) November 27, 2020
All in all, the show conveyed a unanimous feeling of vulnerability among the nation, with several guests remarking on the heightened sense of their own mortality to which they found art to be the antidote.
The certainty of a weekly episode will be some welcomed normality in a world which has – once again – seemingly lost all structure, while the show’s overarching theme of unity will continue to act as a poignant reminder of the significance art holds in each of our lives, particularly through periods of hardship.
Tribute to actor Paul Ritter
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