Holly HY / 11 April 2025 / Categories: Shops, Specialty, Arts & Entertainment, Arts Galleries

The Day I Met Miles Aldridge Introduced To Grayson Perry

A Grand Day Out at Sothebys London

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum. What a day. I was sauntering up new Bond Street minding my own business window shopping and I was approached by a chap in a suit with an earpiece and I immediately wondered what I’d done wrong,

It was Tashann a 14 year veteran with Sotheby’s the fine art auction house.

“would you like to come in and look at our exhibition” he said

He mentioned Grayson Perry who I of course have heard of and Miles Aldridge who I hadn’t.

I wasn’t 100% sure what he was inviting me in to experience next door was an adjacent window absolutely crammed full of Hermes handbags which I later found out are a little bit more expensive than buying directly from Hermes but the advantage is no wait lists and more convenient for the super wealthy.

The last time I was in this level under the hammer it was Christie’s in Beverley Hills a lifetime ago and Andy Warhol’s poppies sold for a massive number, a record at the time if I remember correctly. In Christie's 20th-century art sale in Los Angeles in 2004, Andy Warhol's painting "Flowers" (1964) sold for $35.48 million. It was a shock seeing the painting in reality it was very small.

There is security everywhere just like a real museum. The Beauty of being invited into Sotherby’s they have works on display from private collectors so today I got to see a degas, Kandinsky and an Henri Rousseau painting very few people will have ever seen.

You would be absolutely amazed at the labyrinth of galleries you can meander into and browse work of art to buy that would cost tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands.

Sotheby’s open to the public without invitation have turned their offering into an experiential shopping, dining, social.

The miles Aldridge experience towards the back of the building beyond the restaurant where they serve lunch, breakfast and dinner next to the miles Eldridge cafe where the vibe is modern and pink, was a gallery full of colour photographs and eclectic still life. Playful and plastic, eclectic, ghoulish but could have been in the staging for a new Katy Perry video shoot.

I was super lucky to witness the artist Miles Aldridge making a promotional interview video amongst his work so I sulked about in the background to listen, which actually gave me chill bumps.

The Grayson Perry photographs by Richard Ancett were spectacular and thought and provoking. The series of limited prints in different sizes are available through Sotheby’s to run alongside The Grayson Perry — new exhibition, Delusions of Grandeur, which opened 28th March, 2025 and runs until the 26th October, 2025 at the Wallace Collection in London, a portfolio of the artist by Ansett, his shutterbug muse.

“A Portrait of Grayson Perry" at Sotheby's London, runs from March 28 to April 17, 2025 and I do recommend you go see it. Just walk in, don’t be intimidated. The art is there for everyone to enjoy and then sit down for a bite to eat.

Who knew.

The whole experience was book ended with a lovely chat with Tashann on the way in guiding me what to look at first and the best way in his opinion to navigate the rooms, on the way out he explained excitedly about his role at Sotheby’s and how they were preparing for an oriental and Middle Eastern exhibition which was set to be incredible.

Sotherby’s what an asset you have in one individual who translated more to me about the business of Sotheby’s in 5 minutes and gave me an experience I’ll never forget. So much so I was compelled to write this.

And for me that’s how a brand really markets themselves through the human beings they empower.

I think the most beautiful part of the experience was when I politely asked if I was allowed to snap a few pictures and Tashann replied “you want to have a memory”

I am already deciding when I can return to Sotherbys.