An exhibition of "Erotic Art" painted by Penny Griggs.
Exhibition took place from the 1st - 4th of December at Thornbury Castle, South Gloucestershire.
Penny Griggs quoted.
"The whole exhibition was amazing. The venue was amazing. It was so gothic, decadent and supportive to my obviously controversial artwork. I was also very honoured to have Lord Bath come to see my paintings. He was an amazing sweet, joyful and intelligent man. I am very much an admirer of his erotic art works and opinions. I was also invited to dinner after the show, where we enjoyed delicous wine and found out we had shared many of the same ideas and interests.
I was also blessed to have the reclusive Ken Hancock come out of hiding. He is the only British member of La Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris since Henry Moore in the 1950s. He is invited every year to exhibit one painting at the Grand Palais (Art en Capital) and the Paris Salon at the Carrousel du Louvre with the SNBA.
It was a fantastic crowd of people, I am sure you can imagine; castles, fine wines, candlelight and great conversation. A great time was had by all. I have never been so grateful for everyone's support."
About Penny.
Penny Griggs art work has been influenced by Marquess Alexander Tynne of Bath, Paula Rego, Sarah Lucas and Frida Karlo, to name but a few. Whether she is celebrated or notorious as an eccentric figurative painter, depending on your viewpoint, Penny Griggs wishes to challenge and expand people's views on sexuality, gay/lesbian love, whilst herself interrogating and exploring a polyamorous lifestyle. The artwork isn't just about sex. It is also, and this is its strength, a beautifully observed evocation of the lives of the unusual (or are they unusual?) inhabitants of a contemporary sexual era.
Penny Griggs quoted.
" It bewilders me, why the subject of sex in art is so taboo, or risque, or even considered erotic, whilst sex is an activity we all do . Without sex, humankind wouldn't exist. I don't get upset about my work being seen as porn or considered erotic. I just see my art as a landscape or documentary photograph. Without being a cliché- its just sex. "
Thornbury Castle was chosen as a location for the venue, as Penny wanted to take the context of the paintings away from the modern world and bring it back into a world where sex was not imbued with our sexual zeitgeist. Kings and queens have stayed there. Henry the Eighth had many of his six wife's stay there. Courtiers have flirted with ladies-in-waiting in the ancient yew-hedged gardens. Serving girls have chattered in the stone-flagged courtyard. Today, Thornbury Castle still resonates with history and is the only Tudor castle in England to be open as a hotel. The grand gothic halls, medieval features and historical background of the building were the perfect back drop to an explorative look at the human body and the decadent depiction of Dionysius type orgy's.
And what better guest to have than the eccentric Marquiss of Bath, in his colourful waistcoats and Pan-like smile. An aristocrat, quite at home in his fabulous Elizabethan Longleat Estate almost neighbouring the south Gloucestershire castle. An "A" list Celebrity in the Erotic Art world, his polyandrous lifestyle and "wifelets" and rumoured orgy's, could be a source of information and ideas for any erotic artist. An author, poet, musician and painter of the erotic arts himself, the Marquiss' many works can be viewed at the Longleat estate, most famously in the Kama Sutra Suite, which depicts 26 love scenes. It is rumoured that he is soon to publish a book with previously unseen erotic art work.
For further details or interviews of the event please do hesitate to contact David Cowley:
Email:david.cowley4@ntlworld.com
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