Imagineear, an audioguide and multimedia content specialist offering a full range of advisory and interpretation services, collaborated with the Wallace Collection to create the audio tour experience for Grayson Perry’s Delusions of Grandeur exhibition.
Coinciding with Perry’s 65th birthday, Delusions of Grandeur is the Wallace Collection’s largest and most ambitious contemporary exhibition to date. This temporary show is a vivid expression of Perry’s creativity, mixing humour, personal story, and a strong connection to history and craftsmanship.
At the core of the exhibition is Shirley Smith, a fictional, impoverished artist from London’s East End. Shirley is Perry’s invented counterpart, serving as a means to explore themes of identity, class, biography, and emotional strength.
The exhibition, Perry says, is a kind of portal “where there are shifting layers of authenticity, of history, biography and mental health.” His invitation to visitors is profound but straightforward: “Give yourself up, and you will enjoy it all the more.”
A personal tour
The exhibition features a diverse range of media, including tapestries, ceramics, silverwork, furniture, prints, and even a duvet cover. Many works respond directly to the pieces in the Wallace Collection. For example, Fragonard’s “The Swing” is reimagined as “Fascist Swing,” a neon tapestry devoid of male figures, offering political and cultural commentary.
To realise Grayson Perry’s immersive vision, the Wallace Collection partnered again with Imagineear, its trusted provider of audio tour experiences. Using Imagineear’s reliable MPi device, the audio tour provides visitors with an engaging and personalised way to experience Perry’s work.
Perry, who had prior experience creating audio tours for earlier exhibitions, was eager to produce a similar tour for Delusions of Grandeur. From the beginning, the project was highly collaborative.
Imagineear provided advice to Perry and the Wallace Collection team on various aspects, including the tour structure, duration, number of stops, imagery choices, and visitor experience design. Together, they crafted a series of questions to steer the narrative.
The audio guide is unique. Perry’s voice is natural and genuine, guiding visitors with humour, honesty, and understanding, just like in his art. “This is the most personal tour we’ve ever worked on,” says Will Penswick, project manager at Imagineear, “and, in many ways, the most ambitious in terms of audio storytelling.”
Natural dialogue
This intimate tone was achieved by editing a recorded conversation between Grayson Perry and Dr. Xavier Bray, director of The Wallace Collection, into a seamless monologue. In post-production, Imagineear reshaped the dialogue, making it feel like Perry is speaking directly to each visitor.
While Perry’s voice guides the tour, Shirley Smith appears at key moments. Perry, her creator, felt it wouldn’t be authentic to voice her, so Imagineear hired a voice actress to embody Shirley. A recording session brought her vividly to life.
The audio experience is integral to the exhibition. It doesn’t aim to be technically exhaustive or universally translatable; instead, it tells a story with emotional honesty and creativity. Penswick adds: “When you have an exhibition like Sir Grayson’s, there is no need to embellish the work. You just help make space for their voice to be heard.’’
Earlier this year, Imagineear announced the appointment of Michael Grade as non-executive chairman.
