Grayson Perry

Grayson Perry

Grayson Perry is a British artist, known for his ceramic vases and cross-dressing. Perry's vases are made of classical forms and are decorated with bright and vibrant colors, depicting subjects at odds with their attractive appearance. He was awarded the Turner Prize in 2003.
Perry started his education with pottery lessons in September 1983 at the Central Institute where he was taught by a certain Sarah Sanderson. His first exhibition was in London in December 1983. For a while he made glazed plates with text because he could not make anything else. He was never motivated by a desire to work in clay rather he chose pottery because studio ceramics was in "thrall to a formal idea". Film having proved an inadequate medium for communicating his ideas about gender and society, Perry found in pottery an effective alternative because of the ways artificiality could be deployed to make the innocent or honest pot have a purpose and mean something.
The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam mounted a solo exhibition of his work in 2002. It was partly for this work that he was awarded the Turner Prize in 2003, the first time it was given to a ceramic artist. He attended the award ceremony dressed as a girl which was his alter-ego Claire, wearing a little girl party frock. Perry was accompanied by his family.


Grayson Perry - Artist's Profile - The Saatchi Gallery. 2013. Grayson Perry - Artist's Profile - The Saatchi Gallery. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/grayson_perry.htm. [Accessed 08 April 2013].

Grayson Perry | Artists | Victoria Miro. 2013. Grayson Perry | Artists | Victoria Miro. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.victoria-miro.com/artists/_12/. [Accessed 08 April 2013].