Grayson Perry
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Grayson Perry CBE |
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| Born |
24 March 1960 Chelmsford, Essex, England |
| Education | Portsmouth Polytechnic |
| Known for | Fine art |
| Spouse(s) | Philippa Perry |
| Awards | Turner Prize |
| Patron(s) | Charles Saatchi |
Grayson Perry CBE RA (born 24 March 1960) is an English artist, known mainly for his ceramic vases and cross-dressing. Perry's vases have classical forms and are decorated in bright colours, depicting subjects at odds with their attractive appearance. There is a strong autobiographical element in his work, in which images of Perry as "Claire", his female alter-ego, often appear. He was awarded the Turner Prize in 2003.
In 2008 Perry was ranked number 32 in The Telegraph's list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture". In 2012, Perry was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of his life.
Grayson Perry was born in Chelmsford. When he was seven, his father left the family. Perry describes his father's departure as the event that had the largest impact on him in his life. He subsequently lived at Bicknacre, Essex, with his mother, his stepfather, a younger sister and two stepbrothers, and attended St. Mary's C of E Primary School, Woodham Ferrers.
In his childhood Perry took an interest in drawing and building model aeroplanes, both of which were to become themes in his work. To escape from a difficult family situation and his stepfather's violence, he retreated to his bedroom or his stepfather's shed where he became absorbed in a fantasy life, sometimes involving a teddy bear (called Alan Measles) that had become a "surrogate father figure".
He was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School. Perry took interest in conventional boys' activities, such as model aircraft, motorcycles and girls. He was in the school's Combined Cadet Corps and wanted to train as an army officer. In the late 1970s he was involved in the Chelmsford punk scene.
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