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 grayson perry on the turner prize
 to access audio and video on collective you need real player.Last year’s winner on life after the Turner Prize. When I won the Turner Prize I was bombarded by the media for about a month afterwards from all over the world. I also received about 50 emails a day from well-wishers on every continent as I left my email address on my website, not thinking I would win.The media attention has now subsided to a level where I have high brand-recognition but I am not pestered unless I step out the door in a girlish frock. I am still surprised by how firmly I have become lodged in the national consciousness. I’ve been a question on several television quizzes and the contestants usually get the answer right. I have done quite a few member-of-the-establishment type things like opening galleries, buildings and shows, usually in a frilly dress which sometimes gets more press than the event I’m attending! In the studio I occasionally suffer from what I have dubbed “Picasso napkin syndrome”, which is the realization that every doodle I make these days is potential currency. I have even had people trying to con me out of drawings with sob-story letters. Very convincing until I received another letter from another address with nearly the same fraudulent story.  Balloon, 2004, detail and Precious Boys, 2004, detail, by Grayson Perry I feared that I would “nip up” creatively if I felt the world was watching my every move. Thankfully, I feel the opposite has happened, and think that my recent work exhibits a bit more freedom as I come to terms with the fact that my success is down to doing exactly what I want. Trying to second guess what an audience or the market desires is a self-defeating strategy. I had a show lined up at Victoria Miro Gallery before I won, so I had to get back to work straight away as my pots are small and densely worked, and it takes many months to make enough for a decent exhibition. I imagine that like many artists I live with the constant anxiety that I’ll lose my touch and my best work is behind me, so I’m always relieved when a very recent piece, like my etching, Map Of An Englishman, gets a very positive reception. Another fear is that I’m not making enough. But it very soon became apparent, as we were installing the current show, that we had plenty to fill the space - in a way which satisfies my desire to show that “I am a hard working artist”.
Grayson Perry
Grayson Perry is at the Victoria Miro Gallery, London, until 13 November 04.
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 turner prize2004  turner prize2003  turner prize20 years on the turner prize 2002
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