He's a knight now: Who is Grayson Perry?

2003 Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry is among Britain's best-known contemporary artists. In addition to his intricately crafted ceramic works, Perry also works with a wide variety of other mediums, including embroidery, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. In his work, Perry deals with serious topics such as violence, prejudices, sexual repression, and the habitual behavior patterns and beliefs that people rely on, without worrying about being misunderstood.

In 2012, Perry made a documentary with Channel 4 called 'All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry', which received a BAFTA award.

In the documentary, he visited three very different regions of England and explored the tastes of the different social groups he encountered.

Sir Grayson Perry (born 24 March 1960) is an English contemporary artist, writer and broadcaster. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "prejudices, fashions and foibles".

In 2012, the artist and his gallery Victoria Miro presented this series of six large tapestries called 'The Vanity of Small Differences' to the British Council and Arts Council England.

Later, Grayson Perry came to the fore with the documentary series 'Grayson Perry's Big American Road Trip'.

In the documentary series broadcast on British television, Grayson Perry traveled to different parts of the USA on a Harley Davidson motorcycle for three months, met with different races and social groups, and talked about the current situation of the USA.

Of course, while doing this, he also continued to produce contemporary works of art.

Grayson Perry's latest passion is singing.

He plans to make a traditional musical.

He has been working on it for three years with Richard Thomas, who made Jerry Springer: the Opera.

'Grayson Perry: The Musical' is a musical version of the artist's life that is heavily fictionalized to make a good and entertaining story.

They have already written 14-15 songs.

The goal is to premiere the musical in Birmingham in 2025.

By the way, let us remind you that the artist's most comprehensive retrospective, 'Grayson Perry: Smash Hits', opened at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh on July 22.

The exhibition will continue until November 12.

He also made a TV show with Nigella Lawson

Grayson Perry also made a TV show called 'Grayson's Art Club'.

The artworks sent by the contestants in the program were evaluated by a jury.

The guest jury member of the week, where food-themed artworks competed, was Nigella Lawson, whom we know from cooking programs on television.

Nigella Lawson's work as an art critic on TV, 8 years after her controversial divorce from her ex-husband Charles Saatchi, made a huge impact.

Okay but why?

Because Charles Saatchi is one of the world's leading art collectors.

He is also the founder of Saatchi, one of the most visited contemporary art galleries in London.

In fact, he is one of the biggest supporters of the young British artists' movement.

The man who changed the lives of many artists, from Tracy Emin to Damien Hirst.

He also has a book called 'My Name is Charles Saatchi, I am an Artholic'. Exactly 10 years ago, he was seen choking his wife Nigella Lawson in a restaurant, and Saatchi and Lawson divorced immediately afterward.

Saatchi was one of the most powerful people in England, but when he committed violence against his wife of 10 years in a restaurant, an investigation was launched against him and he received a warning.

Even though there was no complaint.

Charles Saatchi also has a Los Angeles-based website bearing his name: Saatchiart.com.

The works of 40 thousand artists are sold here.

In fact, the works inspired by the fight photographs that caused Saatchi and Lawson's divorce were influential in the rise of Saatchiart.com in this period.

For example, painter Darren Udaiyan reflected Saatchi on canvas as he strangled Lawson; Implying that Saatchi keeps the contemporary art world under control by stifling it.

Additionally, works titled 'The Art Collector Slaughters the cook' and 'The Last Meal' also attracted attention.

Prices ranged between 266 dollars and 32 thousand dollars.

On Saatchiart.com, 30 percent of the sales prices of the works belonged to Charles Saatchi.

Despite everything, Charles Saatchi did not try to prevent the exhibition of works that criticized his private life.

At the time, there were people who said that Saatchi was trying to clear his name by changing the subject from domestic violence to contemporary art.

Rebecca Wilson, the curator of Saatchi Art at the time, responded to the criticism by saying, "We do not believe in censorship, as long as the work is not pornographic or racist."

Charles Saatchi asked: "Would it be more newsworthy if I censored the works of art and banned them from being sold on the site?" He replied to the criticism.

This is partly why, after this whole process, Nigella Lawson's position as an art critic in Grayson Perry's contemporary art program was talked about a lot.

It even overshadowed the work of Phoebe Saatchi Yates, who followed in the footsteps of her father Charles Saatchi, and opened a giant art gallery in London with her husband Arthur Yates during the pandemic period.