Lecture Notes: Grayson Perry
Sir Grayson Perry is a British writer, broadcaster and a contemporary artist born in 1960 who works with traditional, ‘unorthodox’ materials. His approaches may be taken as crude and unsystematic but this may be the reason why the common people are attracted to his works; his light, chaotic, almost childish designs give room for anyone to see and interpret artworks despite not having any experience on it. He himself mentions that he creates works that would ‘sit uncomfortably in a gallery’.
Cocktail Party, 2019
As mentioned, he often works with traditional materials of one of which is ceramics. It was a complete coincidence that he started working with the material; his friend had led him to a pottery class when he stayed with a group of squatters as stated in an interview by Bloomberg shown in the lecture. His initial works are quite crude due to a lack of experience, but he has continued on to master the material. However, his works are one-off projects especially considering when he hand makes all his ceramics, so his initial works are quite valuable.
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| The Vanity of Small Differences, 2012 |
All his artworks are a part of himself, whether it be about his upbringing, memories or his view upon an issue of the world. These are displayed upon his works in different mediums from ceramics to tapestries, gouache, acrylic and watercolour; he is open to using different mediums to freely express himself. One example of this is his large tapestry work ‘The Vanity of Small Differences’ (2012), which is a work inspired by Tim Rakewell.
Golden Ghosts, 2000
His efforts have been recognised, becoming one of the first ceramist to win a Turner prize in 2003. The ceramics that one was titled ‘Golden Ghosts’ from 2000, a traditional ceramic that is painted in relation to himself and the child victims of Chernobyl, showing tension and unhappiness between both histories. Tate Museum states that ‘In awarding the prize to Grayson Perry, the judging panel admired his use of the traditions of ceramics and drawing in his uncompromising engagement with personal and social concerns’.
He also expresses himself outside his works freely in the form of ‘Claire’, his female alter ego. He made a major debut of Claire on the awarding ceremony of the Turner prize, putting attention to his transvestite self to the public. Some may consider this another performance of his, but I have taken this as another way of his ‘autobiography’, an art form of his but also very much ‘himself’.
References:
Aldridge, I. (2022) ‘ARTIST FEATURE: GRAYSON PERRY’, ART REPUBLIC. Available at: https://artrepublic.com/blogs/news/artist-feature-grayson-perry (Accessed: 17 January 2023)
Perry, G. (1989) ‘Cocktail Party’, York MuseumsTrust [Online Image] Available at: https://www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/news-media/latest-news/grayson-perry-the-pre-therapy-years-2/ (Accessed: 17 January 2023)
Perry, G. (2000) ‘Golden Ghosts’, Charles Saatchi [Online Image] Available at: https://www.charlessaatchi.com/artworks/golden-ghosts/ (Accessed: 17 January 2023)
Perry, G. (2012) ‘The Vanity of Small Differences’, Newlyn Art Gallery [Online Image] Available at: https://newlynartgallery.co.uk/activities/grayson-perry/ (Accessed: 17 January 2023)
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