Simon Perry is a British sculptor and academic, based in Melbourne, Australia. Best known for his large-scale public art works for urban spaces in Australia and overseas, Perry's practice incorporates numerous sculptural techniques including casting, carving and fabrication. His works have been created in bronze, concrete, granite, steel, aluminium, wood and stone. Perry's commissioned pieces are predominantly site-specific, and often address elements of environment and public space with a gentle humour.
From the age of seven Perry was regularly taken to the British Museum where he developed an interest in Assyrian and Egyptian sculpture; he cites the smoothness, monumental scale and coolness of the stone as having a profound effect on him.
Between 1981 and 1984 Perry studied at the Chelsea College of Art (now Chelsea College of Art and Design) where he receive his Bachelor of Arts with Honours. From 1984 to 1987 he studied to receive his Master of Arts from the Royal Academy, where, in 1987, he won the Royal Academy Gold Medal for Sculpture. In 1987 he also won the prestigious British Prix de Rome for sculpture, a scholarship allowing him to study at the British School in Rome from 1987 to 1989.
In 1987 Perry's public art commission, Undercurrent, went on display at The Economist Building, London, also in 1987, Perry held his first solo exhibition at Nicola Jacobs Gallery in London.
In addition to his work in public spaces, Perry has shown work in galleries throughout his career, including solo exhibitions at the Nicola Jacobs Gallery, London (1988), The Linden Gallery, Melbourne (1993), The Mechanic's Institute, Melbourne (1998) and the Jenny Port Gallery, Melbourne (2010).
Perry has received many public commissions both in Australia and abroad, and has stated: "I have been working in the public arena for a long time because it has interested me and allowed me to work on a scale and with budgets that would not have been possible in the gallery context."
Public Purse
Public Purse is, for Australians at least, one of Perry's more recognisable works: located in the Bourke Street Mall, it functions as a unique, distinctive form of seating. The piece was commissioned by the council as part of their Percent For Art program in which one per cent of the council's budget was dedicated to funding public artworks with the goal of integrating art into the public spaces of the city.
He also comments on the competition for attention public art faces with regards to advertising: "Art in the public domain, and I am particularly referring to the city, is always competing with a whole range of things for our attention." Thus, the name Public Purse, is a reference to its commission from the Percent For Art Program, and is also a comment on the retail and department stores that populate the site.
Perry's Threaded Field
Threaded Field is a large-scale integrated sculptural installation located on the Northwest stadium concourse at Tesla Dome, Melbourne. Appearing in a series of thread-like segments, loops, knots and needles, the sculpture works to stitch together the various parts of the stadium exterior and concourse. Inspired by the architecture of the stadium, the sculpture is made of painted and polished steel.
Public Address
A scaled-up megaphone made of fibreglass, steel and sound equipment, Public Address functions in much the same way as a hand-held megaphone, except that rather than emitting the sounds of protest rallies it projects the sound of snoring.
Perry has observed that "[t]here are advantages and disadvantages to having a voice...if you have a voice you have a responsibility and a risk." In this way, Public Address, while dealing with notions of a public voice, also comments on the contested nature of public spaces. When Perry, an artist famous for his large-scale public art, elects to deal with anxieties about individuals expressing themselves as part of a collective in a public space he deliberately implicates himself in that confused nexus of being unable to express something terribly important.
© 2020. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Simon Perry. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only
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| Simon Perry |
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Public Purse
1994 |
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Public Purse
1994 |
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Stevedore’s Knot
Brisbane, Queensland, 1996
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Rolled Path
1997 |
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PLONK
bronze, 1998 |
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Threaded Field
1999, Tesla Dome, Docklands, Melbourne |
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Threaded Field
1999, Tesla Dome, Docklands, Melbourne |
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Threaded Field
1999, Tesla Dome, Docklands, Melbourne |
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Threaded Field
1999, Tesla Dome, Docklands, Melbourne |
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Threaded Field
1999, Tesla Dome, Docklands, Melbourne |
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Threaded Field
1999, Tesla Dome, Docklands, Melbourne |
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Conveyor
2000 |
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Public Address
2005 |
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Diver
2006 |
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On Tap
2007 |
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On Tap
2007 |
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Return of the ID
2014 |
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Return of the ID
2014 |
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Daily Bread
2020 |
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Daily Bread
2020 |
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Daily Bread
2020 |
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Daily Bread: Vacant
2020 |
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Daily Bread: bird watching
2020 |
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Daily Bread: what comes first
2020 |
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