I went to Grayson Perry’s exhibition – ‘Who Are You?’ at the National Portrait gallery last week. In this collection the portraits were portrayals of people not as they look like, but a representation of who they are and the circumstances in which they are living.
My favorite piece in this exhibition was called ‘Memory Jar’.This was a portrait of a couple suffering with Alzheimer’s disease – I say the couple was suffering although only the husband was diagnosed as it wasn’t just him who was having to deal with the problems surrounding the condition. On the jar the couple were depicted underneath a red blanket, the wife with her head resting against her husband. Behind them was a monster with scissors shredding photographs of their memories. This piece touched me as Perry had fantastically created a sense of love and vulnerability, showing how they were both relying on each other- protecting each other from this creature who was determined to tear them apart.