Conundrums

A lovely family day and all I've got to show for it is a picture of a fag butt in a wee bag. Confusing.

We went to the National Portrait Gallery to see Grayson Perry's portraits - huge woven wallhangings and big vases interspersed among the traditional portraits. I absolutely loved it. The pieces themselves were beautifully executed with some brilliant ideas behind them. As portraits they were much more illuminating than your average painting since each one portrayed aspects of the subject's life and psyche as well as their physical appearance - so they were 3D portraits in more ways than one. And together they painted a picture of Grayson Perry too - we got quite an insight into his thoughts and personality at the same time. I like his style a lot - and I don't just mean the dresses. A bonus portrait I guess: buy 12, get 1 free.

I was impressed that he put these works in among the other portraits. Most artists would want their work in a separate gallery, with all the glory and adoration that goes with the splendid isolation, but it seemed to me he had shunned this egotistical approach. Quite a move for an artist. I daresay there's a more cynical viewpoint to be had but I'll stick with mine. Great show.

In the evening we went to see Birdman. Intense. Brilliant.

Great day.