The National Galleries of Scotland has announced that its blockbuster exhibition, Grayson Perry: Smash Hits, was visited almost 100,000 times in its four-month run. Since opening on 15 July, 95,852 visits were booked to enjoy the celebration of Sir Grayson Perry’s 40-year career at the National (Royal Scottish Academy) before it closed on Sunday 12 November.
On show exclusively in Edinburgh, Grayson Perry: Smash Hits explored the remarkable 40-year career of contemporary cultural icon, Sir Grayson Perry.
Visitors were able to enjoy over eighty works, including richly detailed tapestries, subversive pots and elaborate plates – some of which were on public display for the first time.
Developed in close collaboration with the artist, the exhibition renounced the tradition for chronological displays. Instead, Perry’s work was presented as a journey through themes including masculinity, sexuality, class, religion, politics and identity.
Grayson Perry: Smash Hits was the National Galleries of Scotland’s most visited exhibition in over ten years, and the fourth most visited since the reopening of the refurbished exhibition galleries in the RSA building in 2003.
Surpassing all expectations, over 10,000 people were welcomed in the first two weeks alone. The final weekend, which offered extended opening hours to allow as many people as possible to experience the exhibition, with over 2,200 visitors each day.
Home to Scotland’s superb art collection, the National Galleries of Scotland operates three galleries in Edinburgh.
At the National visitors can discover treasures from Botticelli to Titian, as well as the world’s largest collection of works by artists from Scotland. The Portrait gallery is packed with famous faces from history and contemporary portraits of pop culture icons, while Modern showcases the very best modern art.
As well as conserving and researching the national collection, the National Galleries of Scotland is committed to reaching the widest possible audience through an active programme, including partnerships across Scotland, the UK and abroad, as well as online.
Visitors enjoyed sharing their experience of Grayson Perry: Smash Hits with feedback captured by National Galleries Scotland throughout the duration of the exhibition. Some notable takeaways included:
“So accessible. I loved his commentaries. It is the only exhibition I have ever been to and laughed out loud.”
“I have never been to an exhibition where almost all of the visitors were smiling and laughing.”
“This was the best, most thought-provoking exhibition I’ve been to in years!”
Sir Grayson Perrysaid: “It was one of the most enjoyable and proud exhibiting experiences of my career. Many thanks to the brilliant team at the National Galleries of Scotland and the people of Scotland!”
Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland,said: “Welcoming almost 100,000 visitors to Grayson Perry: Smash Hits is a significant and proud moment for the National Galleries of Scotland.
“It has been a privilege from the start to work with Sir Grayson Perry in bringing this phenomenal exhibition to the people of Scotland. The response from our visitors, through their verbal and written feedback, photos they’ve shared and online engagement, has been incredible to witness.
“My congratulations and thanks to Sir Grayson – it has been smashing!’
A major Grayson Perry retrospective is announced today (28 November). The largest exhibition of Alberta Whittle’s career to date, a solo show by Do Ho Suh, and printmakers’ treasures are also among highlights of the National Galleries of Scotland’s new exhibitions programme.
Pottery allowed him the opportunity to indulge his fascination with sex, Punk, and counterculture, amongst other things, in the most unlikely and polite of art forms. Today he is one of Britain’s most celebrated artists and cultural figures.
Popular and provocative, Perry makes art that deals with difficult and complex ideas in an accessible and often funny way. He loves taking on big issues that are universally human: masculinity, sexuality, class, religion, politics and more.
On view will be subversive pots, brilliantly intricate prints, elaborate sculptures, and huge, captivating tapestries – all imbued with Perry’s sharp wit and social commentary. Working with traditional mediums, Perry addresses the controversial issues of our times.
We’ll reveal more information about the exhibition next spring. Running at the Royal Scottish Academy from 22 July until 12 November 2023, discover how and why he has become such a cultural icon.
Alberta Whittle: create dangerouslyis an immersive exhibition which invites you to slow down and pause.
At the heart of Alberta’s solo show is her generous spirit which promotes compassion and collective care as means of resisting racism and anti-Blackness. Alberta addresses the brutality and harm caused by colonialism, the Transatlantic trade in enslaved people, and the ongoing climate crisis.
Through richly symbolic artworks, she pulls apart the belief that ’racism and police brutality is [just] an English/Scottish problem or an American problem’. Instead, she underlines Scotland’s complicity in the structures of white supremacy.
Often deeply personal, weaving stories of family and belonging, Alberta ultimately offers a message of hope, asking us to imagine a world outside of these damaging systems and ways of thinking.
This will be the largest showing of Alberta’s works to date, with sculptures, digital collages, watercolours and new paintings made especially for the show, taking over the ground floor of Modern One.
Alongside never-before-seen artworks, the free exhibition offers you the opportunity to see Alberta’s extraordinary tapestry, Entanglement is more than blood, and film, Lagareh – The Last Born – which was on display at the Venice Biennale 2022, commissioned by Scotland+Venice.
Alberta Whittle: create dangerously, running from 1 April 2023 until 7 January 2024, will explore the ambition and breadth of the Barbadian-Scottish artist’s career to date. Alberta Whittle: create dangerously is kindly supported by Baillie Gifford, National Galleries of Scotland Foundation and The Alberta Whittle Exhibition Supporters’ Circle.
A first for us and for Scotland: a solo exhibition coming winter 2023/24 of the South Korean-born, London-based Do Ho Suh.
One of the world’s leading contemporary artists, Do Ho Suh will explore the foundational role that drawing and paper play in Suh’s artistic practice, focusing on his collaborative methods, experimental techniques, and innovative use of materials.
The free exhibition, taking over an entire level of Modern One, will present the artist’s complex and compelling thread drawings – in which cotton thread is embedded on handmade paper – alongside architectural rubbings, paper sculptures, cyanotypes, printmaking and watercolours.
There will also be a major new installation of Suh’s famed ‘hubs’, life-size sculptures that recreate physical spaces in colourful, translucent fabric. You can step right inside and immerse yourselves in this innovative reimagining of places meaningful to the artist and his life.
Do Ho Suh is kindly supported by National Galleries of Scotland Foundation, and our associated engagement and audience development initiatives are kindly supported by Baillie Gifford.
Printmaking, one of the most accessible art forms, takes centre stage next Winter. Come and experience the print pioneers who have made their mark in the last five hundred years in Rembrandt to Rego: The Printmaker’s Art.
You will go on a journey from Albrecht Dürer in the fifteenth century right through to contemporary artists including Tracey Emin and Chris Ofili. On the way you will discover how artists have pushed the boundaries in both subject and technique through screen printing, etching, engraving and more.
The show includes many brilliant artists who are now famous for their printmaking; see prints by Andy Warhol, William Blake, Rembrandt, Francisco de Goya, Elizabeth Blackadder, Paula Rego, Bridget Riley, Pablo Picasso and more.
Appreciate the techniques, tools and materials up close – you may even be inspired to give it a go. Rembrandt to Rego: The Printmaker’s Art runs from 2 December until 25 February 2024.
Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2022 marks a welcome return to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
Capturing and sharing emotional, dramatic, or everyday moments in life is the magic of this exhibition.A truly global affair, the prize celebrates the very best in contemporary photography on an international scale.
Sharing work by celebrated professionals and enthusiastic amateurs alike, the images selected for the exhibition share in their ability to move onlookers.
This year’s prize-winning photographs examine a range of subjects – from queerness, transness and the concept of chosen family, socially distanced glimpses into daily lockdown life, to identity and life in former Soviet states.
See several famous faces up close, including footballer and activist Marcus Rashford and Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard. The variety of themes explored throughout the exhibition is matched by the high-quality, contemporary portraiture that reflects the shifting world of today. This free exhibition runs from 17 June until 10 September 2023.
Also at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery,Making Space: Photographs of Architecture will explore how architecture impacts our lives.
As a record of human life past, present, and future, architecture and people are intrinsically linked. A poorly built environment exacerbates inequality, but architecture has the power to address social issues including homelessness, poverty, and displacement.
This fascinating exhibition will also consider how the built environment has a significant role to play in creating a more sustainable future. On display will be a diverse range of photographic styles, formats and processes dating from the 1840s to the present day.
Follow the line from Hill & Adamson’s early experiments on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill through to spectacular contemporary photographs by Andreas Gursky and Chris Leslie which capture the breath-taking scale of modern buildings. Entry to this exhibition is free and will take place from 7 October 2023 until 3 March 2024.
Your Art World,from summer 2023 to spring 2024, will help young people across Scotland to discover a whole new world of creative possibilities.
This inclusive and interactive exhibition is free to see and includes work generated over the past year from a nation-wide call out to those aged between 3-18 years old.
Your Art World’s goal is to inspire and empower young people to think and act creatively but there’s also the added bonus of having their artwork showcased. All submissions will be displayed both online and at the Scottish National Gallery.
Your Art World is generously supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
The final programme highlight is the return of a keenly-awaited tradition: the opening of Turner in January, an exhibition of mesmerising watercolours to help us through the dark days of winter.
Scotland’s famous collection of J.M.W. Turner watercolours was left to the nation by the great art collector Henry Vaughan in 1900.
Since then, following Vaughan’s strict guidelines, they have only ever been displayed during the month of January, when natural light levels are at their lowest. Because of this, these watercolours still possess a freshness and an intensity of colour, almost 200 years since they were originally created.
Presented at the Royal Scottish Academy, Turner in January will open on New Year’s Day 2023 and be open throughout the month of January. Turner in January is generously supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
Sir John Leighton, Director General of the National Galleries of Scotland said: “There is so much to look forward to across our Galleries next year.
“From connecting with Grayson Perry’s craftsmanship up close to slowing down with Alberta Whittle to experience compassion and care, there is something for everyone to discover. Everyone is invited to our Galleries to learn, find a moment of calm, or feel inspired.”
Completing the exhibition programme are free displays currently at the Scottish National Gallery and Modern One respectively: Conserving Scotland’s Art until 16 April, which shines a light on how we preserve art for future generations to enjoy; Conversations with the Collection, offering a fresh way of presenting modern and contemporary art; and until 12 February, New Arrivals: From Salvador Dalí to Jenny Saville, a fascinating showcase of our latest modern and contemporary acquisitions.
