Grayson Perry
Grayson Perry
Southbank Show 17-12-2006
Grayson Perry won the Turner Prize in 2003. About time a transvestite won it.
I'd imagine most people when hearing of artists' name will fall into two categories - those who haven't heard of him, and those who picture him dressed in womens (or is that girls?) clothes in his public appearances.
Grayson came out as a transvestite when he was 15 years old - he was outed by his step-sister after she'd read his diary. His father left the family home when his mother had an affair with the Jaguar-driving milkman.
Perry's step-father abused him and this is challenged / reflected in his art where as a child he spent many hours in his bedroom where he retreated into an imaginary world where he controlled the toy armies which he and his friend Alan Measles (his teddy bear) played.
Grayson's art is primarily in ceramics (pots), which from a distance look traditional and exquisite, but on closer inspection they reveal images of war, sexual perversions and other such unconventional imagery not usually associated with the decoration of pottery.
In a world or fast-food and instant gratification Graysons art is at odds with the permanace of his art. How will they be viewed in fifty or a hundred years? A lot of the content of his newspaper type imagery is usually consigned to the dustbin, but will the permanance of his pots and the statements they make anyone think differently now or in the future?
Southbank Show 17-12-2006
Grayson Perry won the Turner Prize in 2003. About time a transvestite won it.
I'd imagine most people when hearing of artists' name will fall into two categories - those who haven't heard of him, and those who picture him dressed in womens (or is that girls?) clothes in his public appearances.
Grayson came out as a transvestite when he was 15 years old - he was outed by his step-sister after she'd read his diary. His father left the family home when his mother had an affair with the Jaguar-driving milkman.
Perry's step-father abused him and this is challenged / reflected in his art where as a child he spent many hours in his bedroom where he retreated into an imaginary world where he controlled the toy armies which he and his friend Alan Measles (his teddy bear) played.
Grayson's art is primarily in ceramics (pots), which from a distance look traditional and exquisite, but on closer inspection they reveal images of war, sexual perversions and other such unconventional imagery not usually associated with the decoration of pottery.
In a world or fast-food and instant gratification Graysons art is at odds with the permanace of his art. How will they be viewed in fifty or a hundred years? A lot of the content of his newspaper type imagery is usually consigned to the dustbin, but will the permanance of his pots and the statements they make anyone think differently now or in the future?
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