Grayson Perry by Jacky Klein (9780500290804)

Description - Grayson Perry by Jacky Klein

Grayson Perry, renowned for his ceramic vases decorated with shocking and unconventional imagery, has captured the public imagination like no other British artist since Lucian Freud or David Hockney. He shot to fame in 2003 when he won the prestigious Turner Prize, collecting the award wearing a lilac babydoll dress and red pumps. Perry's hard-hitting yet exquisite work, which includes tapestry, prints, sculpture and drawing as well as pots, references his own upbringing and his life as a transvestite while also engaging with many issues, from war and religion to politics and sex.

In this first major monograph on the artist, now updated and expanded, writer and art historian Jacky Klein explores his work through a discussion of his major themes and subjects. A completely new chapter examines Perry's fascination with pilgrimage, including many of his most renowned works, such as The Walthamstow Tapestry, The Westfield Vase, the cast-iron sculpture The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman, and the major tapestry cycle The Vanity of Small Differences, inspired by the satirical prints of William Hogarth.

Klein's text is complemented by intimate and insightful commentaries on individual pieces by the artist himself, giving unique access to his imaginative world and creative processes. Over 175 of Perry's works are illustrated, as well as a rich selection of the visual material that has inspired him, from Afghan war rugs, Sumatran batiks and medieval altarpieces to the paintings of Pieter Bruegel and the American Outsider artist Henry Darger.

With a fully up-to-date biography, bibliography and exhibition history, Grayson Perry continues to be the definitive book on one of the most popular and important artists of our time.

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