Grayson Perry RA
Photo: Eamonn McCabe
Sir Grayson Perry RA (b. 1960)
- Artworks
- Summer Exhibition 2018
- My studio life
- Gallery
- CV
- Art Sales
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Perry studied at Braintree College of Further Education from 1978 to 1979 and graduated from Portsmouth Polytechnic in 1982. He was awarded the Turner Prize in 2003. Perry was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to contemporary art. In 2023 he was awarded a Knighthood (Knight Bachelor) for services to the Arts in the King’s New Year Honours.
He works in a variety of mediums but is best known as a ceramicist. There is a dissonance between the conventional forms of his vessels and the depictions that adorn them. He uses imagery and text to chronicle social concerns, his own formative experiences and to tell the story of his alter ego, Claire. The tone of his narratives is psychologically complex and often caustic. Although he uses traditional methods to make his pots, he employs a range of techniques, such as embossing and photographic transfers, to create intricate, animated surfaces.
Profile
Royal Academician
Printmaker
Born: 1960 in Chelmsford, England, United Kingdom
Nationality: British
Elected RA: 15 March 2011
Gender: Male
Preferred media: Ceramics
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Works by Sir Grayson Perry in the RA Collection
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- Sir Grayson Perry RA Red Alan, 2011 Ceramic with metal chain
- Sir Grayson Perry RA A Map of Days, 2013 Etching
Works associated with Sir Grayson Perry in the RA Collection
1 results
- Grayson Perry R.A. Giclee print. camera: nikon d300.
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Summer Exhibition 2018
In our 250th year, Grayson Perry RA took the helm to coordinate the world’s longest running and largest open-submission show: the Summer Exhibition.
Famous as the world’s largest open submission show, the Summer Exhibition delivers a panorama of art in all mediums, a remarkable mixture of emerging artists and household names, and more.
Find out more
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My studio life
Welcome to the studio
“Welcome to my brand new Islington studio! We used to walk past here 20 years ago and think, ‘Wow, this would make a wonderful studio’. And now I’ve got it.”
© Eamonn McCabe
A building with history
“The building was originally used as a watch factory, and you can still see signs of the belt-driven machinery. The next company here made decorative plaster moulding for theatres, and it was finally a small metal workshop. After that, it was used as a film set. With pale green, flaking paint, it was perfect for period drama murder scenes…”
See AlsoGrayson Perry | Biography, Pottery, Tapestry, Documentary, & FactsGrayson Perry » Saatchi Gallery© Eamonn McCabe
Cashmere socks
“I do feel slightly embarrassed here. It feels like one of those YBA studios: they always have perfect white industrial studios. I’m not complaining though. Moving here has been the biggest change in my life – my work rate has gone up hugely. In Walthamstow I had to go home by four as it was simply too cold. Even here though, I swear by cashmere socks from November all the way through to about April.”
© Eamonn McCabe
A sad day for Walthamstow
“We had to hire cranes and knock down the front door to get these kilns out of my last studio. A man was walking past pushing a buggy and asked what was going on. So I told him I was moving to a new studio. ‘Oh, it’s a sad day for Walthamstow,’ he said. Artists are the shock troops of gentrification, and Walthamstow is well on the way. ‘My work here is done,’ I told him!”
© Eamonn McCabe
Alan Measles, kiln god
“The woman on top of the red kiln is my kiln goddess. Alan Measles got co-opted to look after the second one.”
© Eamonn McCabe
"Everything is contingent"
“For the tapestries, I start with a full-scale drawing and then use this to design them. I work with a production company called Factum Arte, who sent their Photoshop expert here for two days to give me a crash course. What’s brilliant about it is that everything is contingent. Unlike real things, you can always go back to the beginning and start again.”
© Eamonn McCabe
My Bible
“This is Kate Fox’s Watching the English. I love this book, it’s my Bible. Every time I meet a foreigner thinking of moving here I tell them to read it.”
© Eamonn McCabe
The Essex House
“I’m always referring to lots of different sources – my books are primary in my work. The green tile in front of these ones is a sketch for the Essex House that I’m doing with FAT and Living Architecture. They’re going to be giant!”
© Eamonn McCabe
Producing repeat images
“These terracotta stamps on the second shelf down are used for logos and other repeat images on my pottery. One of the first I made was a stamp of a hell’s angel. I’ve got thousands of them now.”
© Eamonn McCabe
Up close
“I use the magnifying glass to carve them.”
© Eamonn McCabe
Fragments
“That’s one of my Tate Modern reliquaries hanging from the beams – it’s a piece of broken pot. You can buy it from their gift shop if you like.”
© Eamonn McCabe
This old thing?
“That cushion is ancient and full of pottery dust. There’s something of the little old lady in her conservatory about it.”
© Eamonn McCabe
"Bikes have always been part of my identity."
“I’ve never owned a car. Bikes have always been part of my identity. Trannies do tend to overcompensate by doing very macho stuff. I’m getting to an age now where I’m thinking of buying a car – probably a red sports car, something exotic and embarrassing. ”
© Eamonn McCabe
"Like the skin of my younger body"
“These leathers are the first thing I ever had specially made, when I was 29. I look at them now like the skin of my younger body. I could probably squeeze into them now, like some kind of middle-aged sausage.”
© Eamonn McCabe
Never knowingly understated
“I bought this from Rachel Choi’s student fashion show. It weighs a tonne: clearly, an awful lot of artificial fibres have gone into it! It might be the most bonkers thing I own.”
© Eamonn McCabe
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Gallery
Grayson Perry RA, Artist's Robe, 2004.
Embroidered silk brocade, leather, printed linen and ceramic buttons. 179 x 70 cm. Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London© Grayson Perry.
Grayson Perry RA, The Rosetta Vase, 2011.
Glazed ceramic. Height 78.5 cm, diameter 40.7 cm. British Museum Collection. Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London© Grayson Perry.
Grayson Perry RA, World Leaders Attend the Marriage of Alan Measles and Claire Perry, 2009.
52 cm x 32 cm. Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London© Grayson Perry.
Grayson Perry RA, World Leaders Attend the Marriage of Alan Measles and Claire Perry, 2009.
Glazed ceramic. 52 cm x 32 cm. Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London© Grayson Perry.
Grayson Perry RA, Expulsion from Number 8 Eden Close, 2012.
Wool, cotton, acrylic, polyester and silk tapestry. 200 x 400 cm. Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London© Grayson Perry.
Grayson Perry RA, Map of Truths and Beliefs, 2011.
Wool and cotton tapestry woven by Flanders Tapestries from files prepared at Factum Arte. 290 x 690 cm. Courtesy the Artist and Paragon Press, London© Grayson Perry.
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Selected CV
Last updated 2018
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Recent solo exhibitions
2016Paper Tiger Whisky Soap Theatre (Dada Nice), Villa Arson, Nice
2018Grayson Perry, KIASMA, Helskinki; touring to Monnaie de Paris, ParisGrayson Perry: Making Meaning, The Gallery at Windsor, Vero Beach, FloridaThe Vanity of Small Differences, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
2017The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever!, Serpentine Gallery, London; touring to Arnolfini, BristolMaking Himself Claire: Grayson Perry’s Dresses, Walker Art Gallery, LiverpoolGrayson Perry: The Life of Julie Cope, Firstsite Gallery, Colchester
2016Hold Your Beliefs Lightly, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht; touring to ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, Aarhus
2015Provincial Punk, Turner Contemporary, MargateSmall Differences, Pera Museum, IstanbulMy Pretty Little Art Career, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
2014Who Are You?, National Portrait Gallery, LondonWalthamstow Tapestry, Winchester Discovery Centre
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Selected collections
Arts Council Collection, LondonBirmingham Museums & Art GalleryBrighton & Hove MuseumsBritish Council Collection, LondonThe British Library (Map Library), LondonBritish Museum, LondonChelmsford Museum, EssexCrafts Council Collection, LondonGallery of Modern Art, GlasgowGovernment Art Collection, LondonHouse of Commons Collection, LondonLeeds Museums and Galleries (City Art Gallery)Manchester City GalleriesMuseum of Art, Rhode Island School of DesignThe Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TexasThe Museum of Modern Art, New YorkStedelijk Museum, AmsterdamTate, LondonVictoria & Albert Museum, LondonYale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut
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Awards
2017Royal Television Society Programme Award (Best Presenter and Best Arts Programme)Evening Standard Contemporary Art PrizeGrierson Award (Best Presenter)
2016Political Studies Association AwardRIBA Honorary FellowshipGQ Men / Writer of the Year Award
2015Chancellor of the University of the Arts, LondonTrustee of the British MuseumBAFTA (Best Specialist Factual)
2013BAFTA (Best Specialist Factual)Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
2003Turner Prize winner
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Art Sales at the RA
The Island Of Bad Art
Winner of 2003’s Turner Prize, Grayson Perry RA takes a swipe at the art establishment. His etching depicts an ‘island of bad art’ resembling Venice, home to the celebrated contemporary art biennale.
British-born Perry’s etching presents the viewer with a 16th-century style map. And creates the same dissonance between conventional form and personal message the artist achieves in his best-known medium, ceramics. The print is available to buy through Art Sales at the RA.
Buy now
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Related articles
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RA Recommends > 4 years ago From Linder’s radical feminist collages and Grayson Perry’s early pots, to the Barbican’s blockbuster survey of masculinity, here are 10 exhibitions you won’t want to miss. -
RA Recommends < 5 years ago From Bridget Riley and the dazzling canvases of the Op-Art movement, to the culinary artefacts of the ancient world, here 10 shows across the UK that we recommend this month. -
RA Exhibitions < 6 years ago As the 250th Summer Exhibition opens, Banksy has revealed that he entered the public submission exhibition under a pseudonym… Here’s the inside story. -
RA Exhibitions < 6 years ago Take a look inside the 250th Summer Exhibition in this video with coordinator Grayson Perry RA, as he shows us some of his highlights of this year’s show. -
RA Exhibitions 6 years ago What’s it like to put together the Summer Exhibition? We spoke to this year’s coordinator, Grayson Perry RA, and his band of fellow artists in charge of selecting and hanging the world’s largest open-submission art show. -
Inside the Academy 6 years ago We don’t know if we’ve mentioned it, but the Royal Academy has had a major transformation – welcome to the new RA! Here are nine things you can expect from London’s new home for art and ideas. -
Inside the Academy > 7 years ago Celebrating The Queen’s 90th birthday with a reception and awards ceremony, the Academy was delighted to welcome our Royal Patron to honour contributions in the fields of visual arts and architecture. -
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Opinion > 9 years ago The Royal Academician’s major exhibition in London turns to us, the people of modern Britain, unveiling 14 new portraits that spotlight the complexities behind our identity. -
Artists > 9 years ago We caught up with Grayson Perry RA as he moved into his new Islington Studio, where he told us about ceramics, motorbikes and why he wears cashmere socks. -
Artists 10 years ago A new artwork by Grayson Perry RA presents a special manifesto for the Royal Academy. -
Opinion 10 years ago Novelist Tracy Chevalier, who curates a new exhibition of quilts, argues that this traditional activity should be accepted as a contemporary art medium.
Associated books
2 results
- Sir Grayson Perry RA Cycle of violence - London: 2012 11/910
- Sir Grayson Perry RA Cycle of violence - London: 2002 14/1216
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