MUSE

A Portrait of Grayson Perry

Published by ACC Art Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

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About The Book

Grayson Perry’s cheeky Claire persona finally receives the attention she deserves in this collection of previously unseen photos by renowned photographer Richard Ansett.

"Wow! Just wow! … It’s a really stunning thing. A love letter that is itself a work of art about a work of art that is Grayson. Both playful and deadly serious ... these photos are not simply about 'serving looks' but about restlessness and identity and transience.... Ansett’s work is mind-blowing … not cosy at all. Just brilliant photography." - Suzanne Moore

"Great to see Grayson in his various guises. He must have more women's clothes than the average woman!" Martin Parr

"Some are artists, some are muses — Sir Grayson Perry is both, according to a new coffee table book." The Standard
"Muse documents Perry’s Bowie-like range of personae, from his alter-ego Claire, to Madonna and child, to a Dolly Parton-style American country girl." Yahoo News UK

Grayson Perry is an award-winning artist best known in the art world for his ceramic works. To the wider public, he is perhaps equally famous for his cross-dressing alter ego. This book reveals a unique relationship between Perry and renowned portrait photographer Richard Ansett through a previously unseen archive from photoshoots spanning over 10 years.
Ansett astutely captures the wit, style and irreverence of Perry’s many complex personas. Beyond the snazzy outfits and cheeky poses, these thematic portrait collections offer wry social commentaries on current and popular phenomena, including the EU referendum, American pop culture and the existential questions of life and death.
At once glossy, fabulous and cutting-edge, Muse: A Portrait of Grayson Perry offers a complex, fascinating and ultimately affectionate insight into our recently knighted national treasure with anecdotes and narration from Ansett himself, this is a masterpiece of rhetorical observations and quick-thinking camerawork. Perfect for art geeks, style freaks and Perry’s long-devoted following.

About The Author

Product Details

  • Publisher: ACC Art Books (October 16, 2023)
  • Length: 112 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781788842327

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Raves and Reviews

“Richard Ansett’s images do not flatter to deceive… humour offsets a gritty realism.”

– Diane Smyth

"An act of genius…he is the skeleton from which all the other meat hangs.”

– Boris Mikhailov

"Wow! Just wow! … It’s a really stunning thing. A love letter that is itself a work of art about a work of art that is Grayson. Both playful and deadly serious ... these photos are not simply about 'serving looks' but about restlessness and identity and transience. That world is full of possibilities because Grayson has given himself the freedom to be whoever he wants to be, to look how he wants. His gift is that he passes that freedom to us. Ansett’s work is mind-blowing … not cosy at all. Just brilliant photography."

– Suzanne Moore

"Great to see Grayson in his various guises. He must have more women's clothes than the average woman!"

– Martin Parr

“Through his engaging portraits and text, photographer Richard Ansett has provided a visually exciting and thoughtful insight in to one of Britain’s national treasures, Sir Grayson Perry, and on society itself.”

– Dr Michael Pritchard

“As the subject I look at these photographs with a joy and a horror. Joy in that they are funny and delightful, horror in knowing that I am that raddled old trannie. It is always fun to work with Richard and he takes a beautiful photo and always captures very clearly what I look like, and I have to deal with that. They are both ridiculous fantasy and crumpled reality.”

– Sir Grayson Perry CBE

"Great to see Grayson in his various guises. He must have more women's clothes than the average woman!"

– Martin Parr CBE

“Outrageously fun and deliciously over-the-top, this book provides a fascinating peek behind the proverbial petticoats of one of Britain’s best-loved artists, Sir Grayson Perry.”

– Janet Hardie?Senior Specialist

"In spite of Perry’s extravagantly costumed veneer there is empathy and commentary in this portrayal – through Richard Ansett, we get to Grayson Perry and beyond!"

– Clare Freestone

“Grayson is incredibly difficult to work with and complete diva.”

– Richard Ansett

The Martin Parr Foundation has accepted 'MUSE - A Portrait of Grayson Perry' into its prestigious library archive. The collection of over 5000 photobooks has been carefully curated by Martin Parr. While the library is primarily dedicated to works from Britain and Ireland, it also contains some of the best photobooks from around the world.

– Martin Parr Foundation

"Ansett astutely captures the wit, style and irreverence of Perry’s many complex personas."

– The Eye of Photography

"Created in part to promote the artist’s successful Channel 4 documentary series, they serve as beautiful, simple echoes of the themes he explores in his pottery and epic tapestries."

– The New European

"Painting the town pink Sir Grayson Perry attends the launch of Muse: A Portrait of Grayson Perry by Richard Ansett at Iconic Images Gallery in London. The book showcases the relationship between the colourful artist and the portrait photographer via previously unseen photoshoots spanning more than 10 years."

– Daily Telegraph

Fashion journalist Rich Pelly ask Grayson Perry for fashion advice at the launch of an exhibition and book at Iconic Images Gallery, London.

– Guardian

"Some are artists, some are muses — Sir Grayson Perry is both, according to a new coffee table book."

– The Standard

"Muse documents Perry’s Bowie-like range of personae, from his alter-ego Claire, to Madonna and child, to a Dolly Parton-style American country girl."

– Yahoo News UK

“The insolence of Grayson Perry, acid king of cross-dressing, who embodies the loneliness born of Brexit in front of the lens of his compatriot Richard Ansett.”

– Le Figaro

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