Grayson Perry accepts £126k prize to make art that reaches 'the average Joe on the sofa'

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Robert Dex @RobDexES27 February 2020

Grayson Perry said accepting a 150,000 euro (£126,000) prize is part of his aim of reaching “the average Joe on the sofa”.

The Erasmus Prize — for exceptional contribution to culture, society, or social science in Europe — will be presented by Dutch King Willem-Alexander.

Perry said: “When I got the letter I said to my daughter, ‘Should I accept this?’ and she just said, ‘Don’t be so affected.’ It all helps because accessibility is a part of what I want to do which is make art an ordinary part of life but a stimulating part of life. I’m not really talking to the art world, I’m more interested in the average Joe on the sofa.”

Perry, who regularly dresses as his alter-ego Claire, won the Turner Prize in 2003 for his highly decorated pots.

The Foundation, which organises the prize, said they awarded it to Perry for the “insightful way he tackles questions of beauty and craftsmanship” and praised his recent project Matching Pair where he created two vases representing the leave and remain sides of the Brexit argument, but its director Shanti van Dam said his win was not a comment on the UK’s relationship with Europe.

She said: “The fact that Perry won the prize is nothing to do with Brexit. It’s to do with his work, his whole body of work.”

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