The Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry CBE RA has been appointed as the Royal Academy’s nomination to the British Museum Board of Trustees. Grayson will replace outgoing Trustee, sculptor Sir Antony Gormley who is stepping down on 1 April 2015, as his term of office as the Royal Academy of Arts nominee has come to an end after 8 years.
As part of the British Museum’s commitment to increasing access and engagement with the collection, the Trustees feel it is particularly important to have an artist like Grayson who will be able to speak to the widest possible public both in the UK and around the world of the significance of the Museum and its collections.
Grayson has been involved with the British Museum for a number of years. In 2011 he curated the exhibition “Grayson Perry: Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman” that drew from the British Museum’s world class collections and involved working with staff from across the Museum’s departments. Given the great public success of his Reith Lectures last year, the Trustees of the British Museum felt that he was in every way an appropriate Royal Academy of Arts nominee.
Richard Lambert, Chairman of the Trustees of the British Museum said, “I am delighted that the Royal Academy has nominated Grayson Perry RA as its Trustee to replace Sir Antony Gormley. In his exhibition Grayson showed his understanding of the British Museum as a treasure house of invention and imagination. He has demonstrated the human compulsion to make beautiful and moving things. I would like to thank Sir Antony Gormley for his wonderful contribution to the life and work of the British Museum”.
Christopher Le Brun, President of the Royal Academy of Arts said, “We are delighted with the appointment of Grayson Perry RA as the Royal Academy Trustee of the British Museum. Royal Academicians have traditionally made a significant contribution to British cultural life, and this is one of several positions that illustrate their influence. Grayson’s energy and generosity with his time will undoubtedly be hugely beneficial to the work of the British Museum, and he is a worthy successor to Sir Antony Gormley RA.”