Grayson Perry

Born into a working-class family, Perry was four years old when his father Tom left home after discovering his mother Jean was having an affair with a milkman, whom she later married and who Perry has claimed was violent. Subsequently, he spent an unhappy childhood moving between his parents and created a fantasy world based around his teddy to cope with his sense of anxiety. He considers a person's early experiences are important in shaping their aesthetic and sexuality.{{cite magazine |last=Curtis |first=Nick |title=National treasure? I'm happy to take it |date=27 September 2019 |location=London |magazine=Evening Standard}} Perry described his first sexual experience at the age of seven when he tied himself up in his pyjamas.{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Wendy |title=Grayson Perry: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl |date=2006 |location=London |publisher=Chatto & Windus |isbn=0701178930}}

Perry spent a short period of his school life at King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford (KEGS). Following the encouragement of his art teacher, he decided to study art. He did an art foundation course at Braintree College of Further Education from 1978 to 1979, followed by a BA in fine art at Portsmouth College of Art and Design (now the University of Portsmouth), graduating in 1982.Wilson, Andrew. Grayson Perry: General Artist He had an interest in film and exhibited his first piece of pottery at a New Contemporaries show at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London in 1980.

In the months following his graduation, he joined the Neo Naturists, a group started by Christine Binnie to revive the "true sixties spirit – which involves living one's life more or less naked and occasionally manifesting it into a performance for which the main theme is body paint".Dawson, p. 81 They put on events at galleries and other venues. At this time Perry was living in squats in central London.{{cite news |last1=Edwardes |first1=Charlotte |title=One of Britain's most celebrated artists, now Grayson Perry is co-ordinating the RA's Summer Exhibition |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/grayson-perry-royal-academy-summer-exhibition-a3854891.html |access-date=11 June 2020 |work=Evening Standard |date=7 June 2018 |language=en}}

When he left for Portsmouth in 1979, his stepfather told him "Don't come back".{{cite news|first1=Lynn|last1=Barber|access-date=June 11, 2020|title=Lynn Barber meets Grayson Perry|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2006/jan/08/art.biography|department=The Observer|date=8 January 2006|issn=0029-7712|newspaper=The Guardian}} Perry was estranged from his mother; when she died in 2016, he did not attend her funeral.{{cite news|first1=Nadeem|last1=Badshah|access-date=June 11, 2020|title=Grayson Perry discloses details of estrangement from his mother|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/aug/14/grayson-perry-artist-discloses-details-of-estrangement-from-his-mother|date=14 August 2018|issn=0261-3077|newspaper=The Guardian}}

As of 2010, he lives in north London with his wife, the author and psychotherapist Philippa Perry.{{cite news | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/how-we-met-philippa-grayson-perry-1964088.html | date = 8 May 2010 | access-date = 5 January 2018 | first = Rhiannon | last = Harries | newspaper = The Independent | title = How We Met: Philippa & Grayson Perry}} They have one daughter, Florence, born in 1992.{{cite news|first1=Jessica|last1=Berens|access-date=2019-01-31|title=Jessica Berens meets Grayson Perry|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2003/sep/21/art|newspaper=The Guardian|date=20 September 2003|issn=0029-7712}}{{cite news|first1=Michael|last1=Odell|access-date=January 31, 2019|title=Grayson Perry: 'I felt I might fail as a parent if I didn't get help'|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/i-felt-i-would-fail-as-a-parent-if-i-didnt-get-help-vlbds7zwz|newspaper=The Times|date=17 June 2017|issn=0140-0460}}

In 2015 he was appointed to succeed Kwame Kwei-Armah as chancellor of University of the Arts London.{{cite web |url=http://newsevents.arts.ac.uk/45863/grayson-perry-announced-new-ual-chancellor/ |title=Grayson Perry announced as new UAL Chancellor |publisher=University of the Arts London |date=17 March 2015 |access-date=2 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110093147/http://newsevents.arts.ac.uk/45863/grayson-perry-announced-new-ual-chancellor/ |archive-date=10 January 2017 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/news_and_press/press_releases/2015/grayson_perry.aspx |title=Grayson Perry announced as Trustee of the British Museum |publisher=The British Museum |date=2015 |access-date=2 December 2015}}

Perry is a keen mountain biker{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/may/02/cycling-is-the-perfect-sport-for-transvestites|title=Cycling is the perfect sport for transvestites|first=Grayson|last=Perry|date=2 May 2015|newspaper=The Guardian}} and motorcyclist.

Perry is a supporter of the Labour Party and has designed works of art to raise funds for the party.{{cite news | last=Quinn | first=Ben | title=Celebrities and Labour apparatchiks out for fundraising dinner | newspaper=The Guardian | date=9 July 2014 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/09/labour-fundraising-london-celebrities | access-date=10 September 2017}} In September 2015, Perry endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election. Perry said he would back Corbyn as he was "doing something interesting for the political debate." He added: "I think he's gold."{{cite news|last1=Vinter|first1=Robyn|last2=Cockburn|first2=Harry|url=http://www.londonlovesbusiness.com/business-news/politics/all-these-celebrity-jeremy-corbyn-fans-might-surprise-you/11650.article|title=All these celebrity Jeremy Corbyn fans might surprise you|location=London|publisher=London Loves Business|date=7 January 2016|access-date=1 May 2018|archive-date=2 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502065033/http://www.londonlovesbusiness.com/business-news/politics/all-these-celebrity-jeremy-corbyn-fans-might-surprise-you/11650.article|url-status=dead}} In October 2016, he said that Corbyn had "no chance of winning an election".{{cite web | last=Burton | first=Charlie | title=Grayson Perry: 'Gender is a fluid thing, even for lads' | website=British GQ | date=30 July 2017 | url=http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/grayson-perry | access-date=10 September 2017}} In 2024 The Guardian reported that Perry had donated £180,000 to the party.{{cite web | url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/06/who-are-the-big-conservative-and-labour-donors | title=Who are the big Conservative and Labour donors? | work=The Guardian |author1=Rowena Mason |author2=Henry Dyer | date=6 June 2024 | access-date=30 June 2024}}

From an early age he liked to dress in stereotypically women's clothes and in his teens realised that he was a transvestite. At the age of 15, he moved in with his father's family in Chelmsford, where he began to go out dressed as a woman. When he was discovered by his father, he said he would stop but his stepmother told everyone about it, and a few months later, threw him out. He returned to his mother and stepfather at Great Bardfield in Essex.

File:Grayson Perry as Claire.jpg

Perry frequently appears in public dressed as a woman, and he has described his female alter-ego, "Claire", variously as "a 19th century reforming matriarch, a middle-England protester for No More Art, an aero-model-maker, or an Eastern European Freedom Fighter",Grayson Perry: guerrilla tactics, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 2002 and "a fortysomething woman living in a Barratt home, the kind of woman who eats ready meals and can just about sew on a button".Perry, pp. 8–9 [more detail needed] In his work, Perry includes pictures of himself in stereotypically women's clothes: for example, Mother of All Battles (1996) is a photograph of Claire holding a gun and wearing a dress, in ethnic Eastern European style, embroidered with images of war, exhibited at his 2002 Guerrilla Tactics show. One critic has called Perry "The social critic from hell".

Perry has designed many of Claire's outfits but fashion students at Central Saint Martins Art College in London take part in an annual competition to design new dresses for Claire. An exhibition, Making Himself Claire: Grayson Perry's Dresses, was held at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, from November 2017 to February 2018."[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41864355 Grayson Perry's dresses really are works of art in new exhibition]", BBC News, 3 November 2017. Accessed 9 January 2018"[http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/exhibitions/grayson-perry-dresses/ Making Himself Claire: Grayson Perry's Dresses: 4 November 2017 – 4 February 2018]", Walker Art Gallery. Accessed 9 January 2018

File:Expo-Grayson Perry 038.jpg

As well as pottery, Perry has worked in printmaking, drawing, embroidery and other textile work, film and performance. He has written a graphic novel, Cycle of Violence. Perry often works with media such as ceramics and weaving, which are traditionally considered to be lower down the hierarchy of arts than sculpture and painting.{{Cite news |last=Powell |first=Robert |date=September 2023 |title=Perry's Smash Hits – with a selfie |pages=10–11 |work=Artwork |issue=228 |url=https://www.artwork.co.uk/text/10.php |quote=Perry's taste tends to media traditionally on the lower rungs of Europe's artistic hierarchy: ceramics, weaving, printmaking, sartorial assemblage. Certainly no painting.}}

The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam mounted a solo exhibition of his work in 2002, Guerrilla Tactics. 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/dec/08/arts.turnerprize2003 |newspaper=The Guardian |title=Turner Prize Goes to Perry – and Claire |first=Maev |last=Kennedy |date=8 December 2003 |access-date=2 December 2015}}

Perry's work refers to several ceramic traditions, including Greek pottery and folk art.DT, p.70 [more detail needed] He has said, "I like the whole iconography of pottery. It hasn't got any big pretensions to being great public works of art, and no matter how brash a statement I make, on a pot it will always have certain humility ... [F]or me the shape has to be classical invisible: then you've got a base that people can understand".Perry, pp.14 and 24 [more detail needed] His vessels are made by coiling, a traditional method. Most have a complex surface employing many techniques, including "glazing, incision, embossing, and the use of photographic transfers",{{cite book|chapter = Simple Ceramic Pots by Marjan Boot | last1=Boot|first1=Marjan|last2=Buck|first2=Louisa|last3=Wilson|first3=Andrew|last4=Perry|first4=Grayson|title=Grayson Perry: Guerilla Tactics|date=2002|publisher=NAi Uitgevers / Stedelijk Museum|location=Rotterdam|isbn=978-90-5662-250-3}} which requires several firings. To some, he adds sprigs, little relief sculptures stuck to the surface. The high degree of skill required by his ceramics and their complexity distances them from craft pottery. It has been said that these methods are not used for decorative effect but to give meaning. Perry challenges the idea, implicit in the craft tradition, that pottery is merely decorative or utilitarian and cannot express ideas.

In his work Perry reflects upon his upbringing as a boy, his stepfather's anger and the absence of proper guidance about male conduct. Perry's understanding of the roles in his family is portrayed in Using My Family, from 1998, where a teddy bear provides affection, and the contemporaneous The Guardians, which depicts his mother and stepfather.

Much of Perry's work contains sexually explicit content. Some of his sexual imagery has been described as "obscene sadomasochistic sex scenes". He also has a reputation for depicting child abuse and yet there are no works depicting sexual child abuse although We've Found the Body of Your Child, 2000 hints at emotional child abuse and child neglect. In other work, he juxtaposes decorative clichés like flowers with weapons and war. Perry combines various techniques as a "guerrilla tactic", using the approachable medium of pottery to provoke thought.

File:Grayson perry tapestry detail Walthamstow E.jpg

Perry created the 15m x 3m The Walthamstow Tapestry in 2009. The large woven tapestry bears hundreds of brand names surrounding large figures in the stages of life from birth to death.{{cite news|first = Charlotte | last = Higgins | author-link = Charlotte Higgins | url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/oct/06/grayson-perry-tapestry-victoria-miro |title=Grayson Perry's The Walthamstow Tapestry goes on display in London|newspaper=The Guardian |date= 6 October 2009|access-date=2013-06-20}}"[http://paragonpress.co.uk/works/the-walthamstow-tapestry The Walthamstow Tapestry by Grayson Perry, 2009]", Paragon Press. Accessed 20 December 2017.

Perry's 2012 TV documentary series All In The Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry, about class "taste" variables, included him making large tapestries, called The Vanity of Small Differences."[http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibitions/touring/grayson-perry-the-vanity-of-small-differences Grayson Perry: The Vanity of Small Differences] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108040006/http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibitions/touring/grayson-perry-the-vanity-of-small-differences |date=8 January 2018 }}", British Council. Accessed 4 January 2018. Their format was inspired by William Hogarth's A Rake's Progress. Of the tapestries, Perry says,

The Vanity of Small Differences consists of six tapestries that tell the story of Tim Rakewell. Some of the characters, incidents and objects I have included I encountered whilst filming All in the Best Possible Taste. The tapestries tell a story of class mobility. I think nothing has such a strong influence on our aesthetic taste as the social class we grow up in.{{cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/in-the-best-possible-taste-grayson-perry/articles/the-vanity-of-small-differences |title=In the Best Possible Taste – Grayson Perry – Features – The Vanity of Small Differences |publisher=Channel 4 |date=2012-05-31 |access-date=2013-06-20 |archive-date=4 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704014136/http://www.channel4.com/programmes/in-the-best-possible-taste-grayson-perry/articles/the-vanity-of-small-differences |url-status=dead }}

The sketches were translated using Adobe Photoshop to design the finished images and the tapestries were woven on a computer-controlled loom.

Perry produced a pair of large-scale tapestries for A House for Essex, called The Essex House Tapestries: The Life of Julie Cope in 2015."[http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/julie-copes-grand-tour/ Julie Cope's Grand Tour: The Story of a Life by Grayson Perry: A Crafts Council Touring Exhibition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107062556/http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/julie-copes-grand-tour/ |date=7 January 2018 }}", Crafts Council. Accessed 6 January 2017.

File:A House for Essex - Grayson Perry.jpg.]]

In 2015 the external work was completed on a holiday home in Wrabness, Essex,Tendring District Council planning application 12/00880/FUL created by Perry working with Fashion Architecture Taste (FAT). Known as A House for Essex or Julie's House, it was built over the River Stour, as a commission for the charity Living Architecture. The house encapsulates the story of Julie May Cope, a fictional Essex woman,{{cite web|url=http://www.eadt.co.uk/what-s-on/grayson_perry_s_house_for_essex_causing_traffic_woes_in_wrabness_1_3972178|title=Grayson Perry's House for Essex causing traffic woes in Wrabness|first=Will|last=Lodge|date=27 February 2015|access-date=17 May 2015|archive-date=21 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521010817/http://www.eadt.co.uk/what-s-on/grayson_perry_s_house_for_essex_causing_traffic_woes_in_wrabness_1_3972178|url-status=dead}} "born in a flood-struck Canvey Island in 1953 and mown down last year by a curry delivery driver in Colchester". Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Ellis Woodman said, "Sporting a livery of green and white ceramic tiles, telephone-box red joinery and a gold roof, it is not easy to miss. ... Decoration is everywhere: from the external tiles embossed with motifs referencing Julie's rock-chick youth to extravagant tapestries recording her life's full narrative. Perry has contributed ceramic sculptures, modelled on Irish Sheelanagigs, which celebrate her as a kind of latter-day earth mother while the delivery driver's moped has even been repurposed as a chandelier suspended above the double-height living room."{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/architecture/11607557/Grayson-Perrys-A-House-For-Essex-review-deliriously-madcap.html|first = Ellis | last = Woodman | title=Grayson Perry's A House For Essex, review: 'deliriously madcap'|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph | date = 15 May 2015}}

Perry made a variety of artwork used inside the house, depicting Julie Cope's life. He made a series of large-scale tapestries, The Essex House Tapestries: The Life of Julie Cope, which include "A Perfect Match" (2015) and "In Its Familiarity, Golden" (2015), and for the bedrooms, "Julie and Rob" (2013) and "Julie and Dave" (2015). He also wrote an essay, "The Ballad of Julie Cope" (2015) and created a series of black and white woodcuts, Six Snapshots of Julie (2015).Mark Edwards "[http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/tapestry-of-essex-everywoman-s-life-caught-at-grayson-perry-s-firstsite-show-1-5318579 Tapestry of Essex Everywoman's life caught at Grayson Perry's Firstsite show] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109235457/http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/tapestry-of-essex-everywoman-s-life-caught-at-grayson-perry-s-firstsite-show-1-5318579 |date=9 January 2018 }}", Ipswich Star, 12 December 2017. Accessed 9 January 2018 Perry also released the series in a signed colour edition of 68.{{Cite web |title=Grayson Perry Prints & Etchings |url=https://andipaeditions.com/buy-grayson-perry-prints/ |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=Andipa Editions |language=en}} The work was shown in an exhibition, Grayson Perry: The Life of Julie Cope, at Firstsite in Colchester, Essex, from January to February 2018."[https://firstsite.uk/event/grayson-perry-the-life-of-julie-cope/ Grayson Perry: The Life of Julie Cope: 1 January – 18 February 2018 10am – 5pm Tapestry of Essex Everywoman's life caught at Grayson Perry's Firstsite show]", Firstsite. Accessed 9 January 2018

In 2005, Perry presented a Channel 4 documentary, Why Men Wear Frocks, in which he examined transvestism and masculinity at the start of the 21st century. Perry talked about his own life as a transvestite and the effect it had on him and his family, frankly discussing its difficulties and pleasures. The documentary won a Royal Television Society award for best network production."[https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/file/PDF%27s/Awards/Archive_Centre_Awards_2005.pdf Royal Television Society Regional Centres' Awards 2005]", Royal Television Society. Accessed 13 December 2017.

He was the subject of a The South Bank Show episode in 2006{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1030613/|title="The South Bank Show" Grayson Perry (TV Episode 2006)|work=IMDb}} and the subject of an Imagine documentary broadcast in November 2011."[https://www.bbc.co.uk/imagine/article/englishman.shtml Map of an Englishman]", BBC, 24 May 2007

His three-part series for Channel 4, All In The Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry, was broadcast in June 2012. The series analysed the ideas of taste held by the different social classes of the UK. Perry explores both male and female culture in each social class and what they buy, in three parts: "Working Class Taste," "Middle Class Taste," and "Upper Class Taste." At the same time, he photographs, and then illustrates his experiences and the people, transcribing them into large tapestries, entitled The Vanity of Small Differences.

In 2014, Perry presented a three-part documentary series for Channel 4, Who Are You?, on identity. In it, he creates diverse portraits for the National Portrait Gallery, London, of ex-MP Chris Huhne, Rylan Clark-Neal from The X Factor, a Muslim convert, and a young transgender man."[http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grayson-perry-who-are-you Grayson Perry: Who Are You?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230172527/http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grayson-perry-who-are-you |date=30 December 2017 }}", Channel 4. Accessed 30 December 2017.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/oct/23/grayson-perry-who-are-you-recview-it-takes-a-real-artist-to-get-to-the-heart-of-chris-huhne |title= Grayson Perry: Who Are You review – it takes a real artist to get to the heart of Chris Huhne |first= Sam | last= Wollaston|date=23 October 2014|newspaper=The Guardian| access-date=30 December 2017}}

In 2016, he presented a series exploring masculinity for Channel 4, Grayson Perry: All Man.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/may/05/grayson-perry-all-man-martial-arts-durham-miners-suicide-masculinity|title=Grayson Perry: All Man review – making touching art out of machismo|first=Lucy|last=Mangan|date=5 May 2016|newspaper=The Guardian}}

In 2018, Perry explored Rites of Passage in a four-part documentary series on Channel 4.{{cite news|first1=Mark|last1=Monahan|access-date=2018-12-21|title=Grayson Perry: Rites of Passage, review: an uneven but spirited look at the peaks of marriage and divorce|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2018/08/30/grayson-perry-rites-passage-review-uneven-spirited-look-peaks/|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=30 August 2018|issn=0307-1235|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}{{cite news|first1=Tim|last1=Dowling|access-date=2018-12-21|title=Grayson Perry: Rites of Passage review – how to create your very own death ritual|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/aug/23/grayson-perry-rites-of-passage-review-death|newspaper=The Guardian|date=23 August 2018|issn=0261-3077|via=www.theguardian.com}} The documentary series focused on death, marriage, birth, and coming of age as Perry compared the way people in the UK dealt with these themes compared to others around the world. Each episode culminated in Perry helping those in the UK to create ceremonies that were appropriate to their own situations.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Perry presented Grayson's Art Club from his home studio alongside his wife Philippa, encouraging viewers to produce and share their own artworks from lockdown. Along with pieces submitted by practising artists and celebrity guests, the public's work went on display at an exhibition in Manchester, however, this did not go ahead due to COVID-19 restrictions. The programme's second series began in February 2021.{{Cite web |last=Strick |first=Katie |date=2020-04-27 |title=Grayson Perry on becoming the nation's new art teacher during lockdown |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/grayson-perry-interview-lockdown-inspiration-graysons-art-club-a4424791.html |access-date=2023-01-18 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}

In 2020 Channel 4 broadcast the series Grayson Perry's Big American Road Trip. Perry crossed the US on a motorbike, exploring its biggest fault lines, from race to class and identity. As America headed for a presidential election, Perry asked how its growing divisions could be overcome.{{Cite web |title=Grayson Perry's Big American Road Trip {{!}} All 4 |url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/grayson-perrys-big-american-road-trip/episode-guide |access-date=2023-01-18 |website=www.channel4.com}}

In 2025, Perry participated in the sixth series of The Masked Singer as "Kingfisher". He was eliminated in the sixth episode.{{cite web|url=https://metro.co.uk/2025/02/01/davina-mccall-falls-in-shock-as-the-masked-singer-reveals-artist-kingfisher-22478706/|title=Davina McCall falls down in shock as The Masked Singer reveals artist behind Kingfisher|publisher=The Metro|accessdate=1 February 2025}}

Other television and radio appearances also include the BBC's Question Time, HARDtalk, Desert Island Discs, Have I Got News for You, and QI.

Perry was an arts correspondent for The Times, writing a weekly column until October 2007.[https://archive.today/20120915113515/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sitesearch.do?query=grayson+perry&hitsperpage=10&nextOffset=0&offset=0&leftStartIndex=1&leftEndIndex=10&submitStatus=searchFormSubmitted&mode=simple§ionId=674], The Times"[https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/client/grayson-perry/work/the-times-3 The Times]", Curtis Brown (literary agents). Accessed 7 January 2018.

Perry gave the 2013 BBC Reith Lectures. In a series of talks titled Playing to the Gallery,{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23217830|title=Grayson Perry to deliver BBC Reith lectures|work=BBC News|date=7 July 2013}} he considered the state of art in the 21st century. The individual lectures, titled "Democracy Has Bad Taste", "Beating the Bounds", "Nice Rebellion, Welcome In!" and "I Found Myself in the Art World", were broadcast in October and November 2013 on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service. He expanded the lectures into a book, Playing to the Gallery: Helping Contemporary Art in its Struggle to Be Understood (2014).

He guest edited an issue of New Statesman in 2014, entitled "The Great White Male Issue".[https://www.newstatesman.com/staggers/2014/10/week-s-new-statesman-grayson-perry-guest-edit In this week's New Statesman: Grayson Perry Guest Edit], New Statesman, 8 October 2014. Accessed 8 January 2017.

In 2017 Perry gave the inaugural Orwell Lecture in the North for The Orwell Foundation, entitled "I've read all the academic texts on empathy"."[https://www.orwellfoundation.com/events/the-orwell-lecture-in-the-north-2017-grayson-perry/ The Orwell Lecture in the North 2017: Grayson Perry]", The Orwell Foundation. Accessed 8 January 2017.{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/nov/19/grayson-perry-orwell-lecture-sheffield | date = 19 November 2017 | access-date = 8 January 2018 | first = Vanessa | last = Thorpe | newspaper = The Guardian | location = London | title = Grayson Perry goes north to help make Britain whole again}}

In 2007 Perry curated an exhibition of art by prisoners and ex-offenders entitled Insider Art at the Institute of Contemporary Arts presented by the Koestler Trust, a charity that promotes art as rehabilitation in prisons, young offenders institutions and secure psychiatric units. He described the artworks as "raw and all the more powerful for that".{{cite web |last1=Bankes |first1=Ariane |title=The 'transvestite potter from Essex' |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/2007/07/the-transvestite-potter-from-essex/ |website=The Spectator |access-date=31 January 2019}} In 2011 he returned to the annual Koestler Trust exhibition, this time held at London's Southbank Centre and judged the award winners in Art by Offenders with Will Self and Emma Bridgewater.{{cite web |title=Koestler exhibition 2011 |url=https://www.shearmanbowen.co.uk/koestler-exhibition-2011/ |website=Shearman Bowen |access-date=31 January 2019}}File:The-Tomb-of-the-Unknown-Craftsman Grayson Perry.jpg

{{Expand list|date=August 2021}}

• Grayson Perry: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl. New York City: Vintage, 2007. An autobiography by Perry and Wendy Jones, constructed from taped interviews. {{ISBN|978-0099485162}}.
• Cycle of Violence. Atlas, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1900565615}}. A graphic novel.
• Playing to the Gallery: Helping Contemporary Art in its Struggle to Be Understood. Particular, 2014. London: Penguin, 2016; {{ISBN|978-0-141-97961-8}}. Based on his BBC Radio 4 Reith Lectures. Text with some illustration.
• The Descent of Man. London: Allen Lane, 2016. {{ISBN|978-0241236277}}. A discussion of modern masculinity with autobiographical elements.
• Sketchbooks. London: Penguin, 2016. {{ISBN|978-1846149054}}. Illustrations of Perry's sketches.

• Unpopular Culture: Grayson Perry Selects from the Arts Council Collection. London: Hayward, 2008. {{ISBN|9781853322679}}. Postwar British paintings, sculpture and photography selected from the Arts Council Collection.

• Guerilla Tactics. Rotterdam: NAi Uitgevers; Amsterdam: Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2002. {{ISBN|978-90-5662-250-3}}. Illustrations of Perry's work with essays by Marjan Boot, Louisa Buck, and Andrew Wilson, and a preface by Rudi Fuchs.
• The Charms of Lincolnshire: 4 February–7 May 2006. Lincoln, UK: The Collection, 2006. {{ISBN|978-0953923854}}.
• Grayson Perry. London: Thames & Hudson, 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-500-28911-2}}. Edited and with texts by Jacky Klein, and illustrations of about 150 of Perry's works with extensive quoted commentaries by him.
• Updated and expanded edition. London: Thames & Hudson, 2013. Reprinted, 2016; {{ISBN|978-0-500-29080-4}}. With illustrations of 175 of Perry's works.
• The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman. British Museum, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0714118208}}. Published to accompany an exhibition at the British Museum. Illustrations of works by Perry as well as of objects selected by him from the Museum, and an introduction by Perry.
• The Vanity of Small Differences. London: Hayward, 2013. {{ISBN|978-1853323157}}. Illustrations of six tapestries by Perry, each with commentary. With essays by Suzanne Moore and Perry.
• Grayson Perry: My Pretty Little Art Career. Sydney: Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2016. Published to accompany a retrospective exhibition.
• The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever!. London: Penguin, 2017. {{ISBN|978-1846149634}}. Published to accompany an exhibition. Illustrations of recent work by Perry, with commentary on each and an introduction by him.
• Julie Cope's Grand Tour: The Story of a Life by Grayson Perry: a Crafts Council Touring Exhibition. London: Crafts Council, 2017. {{ISBN|978-1-903713-52-5}}. Illustrations of tapestries. With a foreword by Annie Warburton, an introduction by Annabelle Campbell, and essays by Joe Hill, Justine Boussard, and Angela McShane. Published to accompany an exhibition."[http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/shop/product/864/julie-copes-grand-tour-exhibition-catalogue Julie Cope's Grand Tour Exhibition Catalogue] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107061510/http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/shop/product/864/julie-copes-grand-tour-exhibition-catalogue |date=7 January 2018 }}", Crafts Council. Accessed 6 January 2017.
• Grayson Perry: Smash Hits Edinburgh: National Galleries Scotland, 2023. {{ISBN|9781911054627}}. Published to accompany an exhibition.

• Playing to the Gallery Postcards: Thirty-six Postcards About Art. London: Particular Books, 2015. {{ISBN|978-1846148712}}.
• Vanities Notecard Set of 6. Details from the tapestries "The Vanity of Small Differences: Expulsion from Number 8 Eden Close, 2012" and "The Annunciation of the Virgin Deal, 2012." London: Royal Academy of Arts.
• Art Quality Gauge and Gift Shop Notecard Set of 6. London: Royal Academy of Arts.
• The Vanity of Small Differences. London: British Council, 2015. {{ISBN|978-0863557606}}.

• {{cite journal |author=Wagner, Erica |author-link=Erica Wagner |date=3–23 April 2020 |title='We are living through a moment of shock': the award-winning artist Grayson Perry on race, humour and art in a time of crisis |department=The Critics. Interview |journal=New Statesman |volume=149 |issue=5514 |pages=80–81, 83}}

• Why Men Wear Frocks (2005) – produced by Twofour for Channel 4, directed by Neil Crombie. Also on DVD.
• The South Bank Show (2006) – episode 678, season 31. Documentary exploring the life and works of Perry, directed by Robert Bee.
• Grayson Perry and the Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman (2011) – 8 episodes broadcast on BBC One, directed by Neil Crombie and produced by Alan Yentob for Imagine. Follows Perry for more than two years as he prepares for an exhibition at the British Museum, selecting artefacts from the museum's collection and producing new work."[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016ycnn Grayson Perry and the Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman]", BBC One. Accessed 20 December 2017. Also on DVD.
• Spare Time – produced by Seneca Productions for More4, directed by Neil Crombie. About British peoples' hobbies.{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/jun/21/grayson-perry-tv-documentary | date = 21 June 2012 | access-date = 20 December 2017 | first = Julia | last = Raeside | newspaper = The Guardian | location = London | title = Grayson Perry showcases the fine art of TV documentary-making}} Also on DVD.
• All In The Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry (2012) – three-part series produced by Channel 4, directed by Neil Crombie. About British peoples' taste. Perry is shown working on his series of tapestries The Vanity of Small Differences. Also on DVD.
• Who Are You? (2014) – three-part documentary series for Channel 4, directed by Neil Crombie.
• Grayson Perry's Dream House (2015) – for Channel 4, directed by Neil Crombie. On A House for Essex ("Julie's House").{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/17/grayson-perry-dream-house-filipa-jodelka | date = 17 May 2015 | access-date = 4 January 2018 | first = Filipa | last = Jodelka | newspaper = The Guardian | location = London | title = Grayson Perry's Dream House: a secular chapel to the Essex everywoman}}"[http://www.swanfilms.tv/productions/graysons-great-design/ Grayson Perry's Dream House]", Swan Films. Accessed 4 January 2018.
• Born Risky: Grayson Perry (2016) – four-part series for Channel 4, directed by Keith McCarthy.
• Grayson Perry: All Man (2016) – three-part series for Channel 4: 2 episodes directed by Neil Crombie, 1 episode directed by Crombie and Arthur Cary.
• Grayson Perry: Divided Britain (2017) – for Channel 4, directed by Neil Crombie. Perry "calls on a public divided by Brexit to inspire his pots for Leave and Remain"."[http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grayson-perry-divided-britain Grayson Perry: Divided Britain] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107175246/http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grayson-perry-divided-britain |date=7 January 2018 }}", Channel 4. Accessed 7 January 2018.{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/may/30/grayson-perry-to-unveil-brexit-vases-channel-4-show-divided-britain | date = 30 May 2017 | access-date = 4 January 2018 | first = Maev | last = Kennedy | newspaper = The Guardian | location = London | title = Grayson Perry to unveil Brexit vases in Channel 4 show Divided Britain}}{{cite news | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/grayson-perry-divided-britain-channel-4-broken-bbc1-a7762871.html | date = 30 May 2017 | access-date = 7 January 2018 | first = Sean | last = O'Grady | newspaper = The Independent | location = London | title = Last night's TV review, Grayson Perry: Divided Britain (Channel 4); Broken (BBC1)}}{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/26/arts/grayson-perry-on-divided-britain-and-his-new-art-exhibition.html | date = 26 June 2017 | access-date = 7 January 2018 | first = Christopher | last = D SHea | newspaper = The New York Times | location = New York City | title = Grayson Perry on 'Divided Britain' and His New Art Exhibition}}{{cite news | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2017/05/30/grayson-perry-divided-britain-vibrant-enigmatic-strange-documentary/| date = 30 May 2017 | access-date = 7 January 2018 | first = Ben | last = Lawrence | newspaper = The Daily Telegraph | location = London | title = Grayson Perry: Divided Britain is a vibrant, enigmatic, strange documentary with not enough Perry: review}}
• Grayson Perry: Rites of Passage (2018) for Channel 4.
• Grayson's Art Club (2020) Commissioning Editor: Shaminder Nahal Production Company: Swan Films (for Channel 4) Executive Producers: Neil Crombie and Joe Evans. (6 × 1-hour episodes).
• Grayson Perry: This England (w/t) (TBA) for Channel 4.{{cite web|url=https://www.channel4.com/press/news/grayson-perry-explore-what-means-be-english-new-channel-4-series|title=Grayson Perry to explore what is means to be English in new Channel 4 series|website=channel4.com/press|access-date=14 October 2022}}

• Bungalow Depression (1981) – 3 mins, Standard 8 mm film
• The Green Witch and Merry Diana (1984) – 20 mins, Super 8 film
• The Poor Girl (1985) – 47 mins, Super 8 film

Perry was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to contemporary art{{London Gazette|issue=60534 |supp=y|page=8|date=15 June 2013}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22904807 |title=BBC News – Birthday Honours: Adele joins Blackadder stars on list |work=BBC News |date=14 June 2013 |access-date=20 June 2013}}{{cite news | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/honours-list/10595005/Grayson-Perry-collects-CBE-in-Italian-mother-of-the-bride-outfit.html | date = 24 January 2014 | access-date = 10 January 2018 | newspaper = The Daily Telegraph | location = London | title = Grayson Perry collects CBE in 'Italian mother of the bride' outfit}} and knighted in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to the arts.{{London Gazette|issue=63918|supp=y|page=N2|date=31 December 2022}}

• 2003: Turner Prize
• 2005: Royal Television Society award for best network production for Why Men Wear Frocks (2005)
• 2012: Visual Arts award, South Bank Sky Arts Awards, for The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman at the British Museum.{{cite news | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9239226/Kate-Bush-and-Grayson-Perry-win-at-the-South-Bank-Sky-Arts-Awards.html | date = 1 May 2012 | access-date = 7 January 2018 | newspaper = The Daily Telegraph | location = London | title = Kate Bush and Grayson Perry win at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards}}
• 2018: Awarded City Lit fellowship {{Cite web |title=Grayson Perry CBE {{!}} City Lit |url=https://www.citylit.ac.uk/city-lit-fellows/grayson-perry-cbe |access-date=2022-11-18 |website=www.citylit.ac.uk}} as part of the Mental Wealth Festival
• 2021: Erasmus Prize: "The theme of the Erasmus Prize this year (sc. 2020) is ´The power of the image in the digital era'. At a time when we are constantly bombarded with images, Perry has developed a unique visual language, demonstrating that art belongs to everybody and should not be an elitist affair. Perry receives the prize for the insightful way he tackles questions of beauty and craftsmanship while addressing wider social and cultural issues.[https://erasmusprijs.org/en/laureates/grayson-perry/ Ersamus Prize 2020 awarded to Gayson Perry]

• British Council Collection and the Arts Council Collection: The Vanity of Small Differences series of tapestries
• Crafts Council, London: Mad Kid's Bedroom Wall Pot (1996)"[http://collections.craftscouncil.org.uk/object-p442 Mad Kid's Bedroom Wall Pot (P442)]", Crafts Council. Accessed 6 January 2017. and two tapestries from The Essex House Tapestries: The Life of Julie Cope (2015) ("A Perfect Match" (2015) and "In Its Familiarity, Golden" (2015))
• Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, UK: Comfort Blanket tapestry"[http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/museums/graves-gallery/exhibitions/current/new-display-grayson-perry-comfort-blanket1 Grayson Perry, Comfort Blanket]", Graves Art Gallery. Accessed 8 January 2017.
• Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Amsterdam"[https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/exhibitions/turner-prize-winner-grayson-perry Turner Prize Winner Grayson Perry]", Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Accessed 20 December 2017.
• Tate, London"[http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/grayson-perry-4657 Grayson Perry: born 1960]", Tate. Accessed 21 December 2017.
• Victoria and Albert Museum, London"[https://collections.vam.ac.uk/name/perry-grayson/A16976/ Your Search Results]", Victoria and Albert Museum. Accessed 7 January 2018.
• Swindon Museum and Art Gallery{{Cite web|title=Swindon snaps up Grayson Perry perfume bottle for ceramics collection|url=https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/14027309.early-example-by-turner-prize-winning-artist-acquired-by-swindon-museum-and-art-gallery/|access-date=2021-11-12|website=Swindon Advertiser|date=12 November 2015 |language=en}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite thesis|last=Walsh|first=Susan|title=A Class Act : Class and Taste in the Work of Grayson Perry|date=2016|publisher=Hull University|url=https://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:15381}}

{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooks=no|about=yes|wikititle=Grayson Perry}}

• {{Twitter|Alan_Measles}}
• {{IMDb name|nm1620871}}
• [https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/grayson-perry-ra Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections]
• [http://thisistomorrow.info/articles/grayson-perry-the-walthamstow-tapestry Images and Essay on the Walthamstow Tapestry]
• [http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/grayson_perry.htm Saatchi Gallery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091125063649/http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/grayson_perry.htm |date=25 November 2009 }}
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/imagine/article/exquisite_corpse.shtml "Exquisite Corpse"]
• [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-05-08/brilliant-ideas-artist-grayson-perry Brilliant Ideas: Artist Grayson Perry], Bloomberg, 2015 (video)
• [https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/oct/03/grayson-perry-mad-british-museum?intcmp=239 "Grayson Perry's Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman – in pictures"] at The Guardian
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03969vt Perry's BBC Reith Lectures, Playing to the Gallery – episode 1 of 4, "Democracy Has Bad Taste"] at the BBC (audio)
• [https://www.living-architecture.co.uk/the-houses/a-house-for-essex/overview/ A House For Essex"]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Grayson}}

Category:1960 births

Category:21st-century ceramists

Category:20th-century squatters

Category:Alumni of the University of Portsmouth

Category:Artists awarded knighthoods

Category:Artists from Essex

Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire

Category:English ceramicists

Category:English contemporary artists

Category:English potters

Category:Knights Bachelor

Category:Labour Party (UK) donors

Category:Living people

Category:Male-to-female cross-dressers

Category:People associated with the University of the Arts London

Category:People educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford

Category:People from Chelmsford

Category:Royal Academicians

Category:Turner Prize winners