Richard Grayson (artist, writer, curator)

Richard Grayson is British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

artist, writer and curator.

His art practice encompasses installation

Installation art

Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...

, video

Video

Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...

, painting

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

and performance

Performance

A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...

.
His work investigates ways that narratives shape our understandings of the world.

Grayson was a founder member of the Basement Group (1979–1984) in Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

. The Basement group was an artists' collective

Collective

A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together on a specific project to achieve a common objective...

that focused on experimental time based and performance art

Performance art

In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...

practices. It has been described as "unique in this country [the United Kingdom] in combining two functions: it is an 'exhibiting society' for a group of six artists working in time based media (mostly performance and video), and it has up to the present provided a venue for any performing artist wishing to present work [in Newcastle]."

He has since shown at Matt's Gallery

Matt's Gallery

Matt's Gallery is a contemporary art space situated on Copperfield Road in Bow, east London. Director, Robin Klassnik, opened the gallery in his studio in 1979 on Martello Street, before moving premises to Bow in 1993. The gallery is named after Klassnik’s dog, Matt E...

, London; SMART Project Space, Amsterdam; Art Unlimited at Art Basel

Art Basel

Art Basel is an international contemporary art fair held each June in Basel, Switzerland. Similar to the Venice Biennale, it has been called "the Olympics of the art world". Art Basel features nearly 300 leading galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa...

2005, Switzerland; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia. Works include: Messiah, 2004, Intelligence, 2005, Ghost Houses, 2004–2007.

His critical writing has been published by Art Monthly

Art Monthly

Art Monthly is a magazine of contemporary art founded in 1976 by Jack Wendler and Peter Townsend. It is based in London and has an international scope, although its main focus is on British art...

, UK and Broadsheet, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.
He has written catagogue essays and monographs on Mark Wallinger

Mark Wallinger

Mark Wallinger is a British artist, best known for his sculpture for the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, Ecce Homo , and State Britain , a recreation at Tate Britain of Brian Haw's protest display outside parliament. He won the Turner Prize in 2007...

, Roy Harper

Roy Harper

Roy Harper is an English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s...

, Mike Nelson, Susan Hiller

Susan Hiller

Susan Hiller is an American-born artist who lives in London, UK. Her art practice encompasses installation, video, photography, performance and writing.-Early Life and Education:...

and Suzanne Treister.

Between 1992 and 1998, he was Director of the Experimental Art Foundation in Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

, Australia

Australia

.

Grayson was Artistic Director of the 2002 Biennale of Sydney

Biennale of Sydney

The Biennale of Sydney is an international festival of contemporary art, held every two years in Sydney, Australia. It is the largest and best-attended contemporary visual arts event in the country...

, titled '(The World May Be) Fantastic', which investigated 'artists and practices using fictions, narratives, invented methodologies, hypotheses, subjective belief systems, modellings, fakes and experiments as a means to make works.'. Writing in Art in America

Art in America

Art in America is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It is designed for collectors, artists, dealers, art professionals and other...

in October 2002, Michael Duncan said of the exhibition that it "gave free rein to complex, often offbeat works predicated on alternate realities. Artists included: Mike Nelson, Chris Burden

Chris Burden

Christopher "Chris" Burden is an American artist working in performance, sculpture, and installation art.-Education:Burden studied for his B.A...

, Susan Hiller

Susan Hiller

Susan Hiller is an American-born artist who lives in London, UK. Her art practice encompasses installation, video, photography, performance and writing.-Early Life and Education:...

, Vito Acconci

Vito Acconci

Vito Hannibal Acconci is a Bronx, New York-born, Brooklyn-based designer, landscape architect, performance and installation artist.-Education:...

, Eleanor Antin

Eleanor Antin

Eleanor Antin is an American photographer, author, and artist working with video, film, performance, and drawing. Originally from New York, USA, she is currently based in Southern California where she is a professor Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego...

, Henry Darger

Henry Darger

Henry Joseph Darger, Jr. was a reclusive American writer and artist who worked as a custodian in Chicago, Illinois...

, Janet Cardiff

Janet Cardiff

Janet Cardiff is a Canadian installation artist. Born in Brussels, Ontario in 1957 Cardiff studied at Queen's University where she graduated in 1980. She also studied at the University of Alberta and graduated in 1983. She works in collaboration with her partner George Bures Miller. Cardiff and...

and Rodney Graham

Rodney Graham

Rodney Graham is an artist and musician born in Abbotsford, British Columbia. He is most often associated with the Vancouver School...

. In an article in the Sydney Morning Herald from 17 May 2002, Bruce James describes why the exhibition was "a bit of a miracle".

Grayson curated 'A Secret Service: Art, Compulsion, Concealment' in 2006/7, a Hayward Gallery

Hayward Gallery

The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre, part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames, in central London, England. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings and also the Royal National Theatre and British Film Institute...

Touring Exhibition; 'This Will Not Happen Without You' in 2006-2007, Arts Council of England Touring exhibition.

Awards

Arts Council of England grants for new work 2004 and 2008
Bartlett Research Fellow, University of Newcastle, UK 2007
AHRB Fellowship in the Creative and Performing Arts 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
South Australian Department of Arts New Work Grant 2000
South Australian Department of Arts Writing commission 2000
Australia Council New Work Grant 1997
South Australian Department of Arts Art In Public Places Grant 1993
Australian Museums Association Professional Development Grant 1993
South Australian Fim Corporation Development Grant 1992
South Australian Department of Arts Personal Award 1990
Australia Council Joint Projects award 1989
British Council Grant 1984
Arts Council GB Film and Video Bursary 1984
Northern Arts Award 1982
Arts Council GB Video Bursary 1982

Education and Training

1976–1977 East Herts College of Art and Design
1977–1980 Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic B.A. Hons Fine Art (now Northumbria University
Northumbria University
Northumbria University is an academic institution located in Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England. It is a member of the University Alliance.- History :...

, Newcastle.)

Residencies

2003–2004 Artist in Residence, International Studio Programme, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Germany
2009 Artist in residence, ArtPace
Artpace
Artpace is a non-profit public charity contemporary art center in San Antonio, Texas founded in 1995 by Linda Pace in a converted car dealership. The center was originally privately funded, but is now publicly funded...

, San Antonio, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, USA

Texts and Writing

A Secret Service: Art, Compulsion, Concealment by Roger Cardinal, Clare Carolin, Richard Grayson Publisher: Hayward Gallery Touring (14 Sep 2006) ISBN 1-85332-256-3 ISBN 978-1-85332-256-3
(The World May Be) Fantastic, 2002 Biennale of Sydney catalogue. Essay 'Grasshopper Worlds' ISBN 978-0-9580403-0-3
This Will Not Happen Without You: (Basement to Locus 1979 to 2007). University of Sunderland Press 2007 ISBN 978-1-899377-25-1
Mark Wallinger Publisher JRP Ringier ISBN 978-3-905829-78-5

External links

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