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Death,
decay, disgust - after last year's low-key affair, no one could
accuse the Turner Prize 2003 of being short on provocation.
In the end the Chapman brothers were passed over for the Prize and
a people's favourite emerged as the winner.
Our reviewer Carol Murphy profiles Grayson Perry...
Grayson Perry aka 'Claire'
Click
here for the other Turner Prize nominees: Anya
Gallaccio>>, Willie Doherty>>
and Jake & Dinos Chapman>>
 Beginnings:
born in Chelmsford in 1960. Studied at Braintree College of Further
Education and at Portsmouth Poytechnic.
Past
form: in
the early 80s he was part of the Neo-Naturist group and took part
in performance and film works. Makes work in a variety of media
from embroidery to photography. Best known for his
ceramic pieces and for the fact that he is also a transvestite called
Claire. His work has tended in the past to fall between the stools
of craft and fine art while his alter ego straddles performance
and persona. Perry is a humanist and wants to "stop the cycle
of society becoming horrible".
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Installation
view of Grayson Perry's work in the Turner Prize 2003. Courtesy
the artist and Victoria Miro Gallery (London)
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Nominated
this year for:
Claire’s Coming Out Dress (2000) and
his vases, which depict the underbelly of Essex life. The vases
feature unlikely, surreal subject matter such as the working class
male and images of child abuse.
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Coming
Out Dress (2000). Cotton and rayon. Courtesy the artist and
Victoria Miro Gallery
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The
inside view: Claire
is giving the Chapmans a run for their money. Not for what she/he
calls the 'banal violence' depicted on his vases - which up the
ante in the 'taboo factor' stakes - but for the pink genital bows
of his/Claire’s dress. On the comments board someone wrote
"I love you Claire".
Ever
hear from again?: could
be a flash in the pan but is very popular with the public.
We
say: Perry's
work is at risk of being overpowered by the personality and va va
voom factor of Claire. To be fair, she does feature in the performance
elements of his work.
The
Turner Prize 2003 is at Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1.Tel:
020 7887 8000. Daily 10.00 - 17.50 until 11 January 2004
Web: Tate
Britain (The
BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites)
Now
go on to Anya Gallaccio>>
or Willie Doherty>> or
Jake & Dinos Chapman>>
or go to our Galleries index
for more on London's visual arts scene
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