Selfie with Political Causes (etching)

by Grayson Perry, 2018

Colour etching.
Edition of 68. Signed by the artist and numbered on the reverse.
Sheet size: 69.5 x 102.3 cm (27 3/8 x 40 1/4 in).

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.


Grayson Perry

https://5afcd40d31d88988688d-1eff6c2e5bc1acb4200996e1b293188f.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/_2500xAUTO_crop_center-center_75/Selfie.jpg