Playing to the Gallery: Helping Contemporary Art in its Struggle to Be Understood

Description

Grayson Perry's irreverent, acclaimed look at the art world, now published in paperback Now Grayson Perry is a fully paid-up member of the art establishment, he wants to show that any of us can appreciate art (after all, there is a reason he's called this book Playing to the Gallery and not 'Sucking up to an Academic Elite'). Based on his hugely popular Reith Lectures and full of pictures, this funny, personal journey through the art world answers the basic questions that might occur to us in an art gallery but seem too embarrassing to ask.

Grayson Perry's first art prize was a large papier-m che head he awarded to himself as part of a performance art project at college in 1980. Since then he has won many other awards, including the Turner Prize in 2003. He is now one of Britain's most celebrated artists and has had major solo exhibitions all over the world. His 2013 BBC Reith Lectures were the most popular lectures since the series began.

This book is full of good jokes, full of cartoons, full of memorable epigrams, but above all full of thought-provoking ideas that make you want to pause on every page and say: "Discuss." I have never read such a stimulating short guide to art. It should be issued as a set text in every school -- Lynn Barber * Sunday Times * A visual and intellectual delight * Time Out * Punchy, mischievous ... Hugely entertaining. You could, genuinely, take an aphorism or a quote from every second page ... This is splendid, transgressive stuff ... a love letter to art ... a thing of pleasure: petite, luxuriously printed, a mischievous little hymn to 21st-century inclusivity -- Melanie Reid * The Times * It reveals Perry to be not just an artist but a wordsmith, too... It is acute and funny at the same time. This, I think, is why people love Perry so much. * Daily Telegraph * A joy to read * New Statesman * A polemic for inclusivity... The great thing about Perry's statement of it here is that you are always convinced that he believes it and lives by it * Observer * It's unputdownable! It's really relevant to anyone who does anything ... A great book ... Grayson is brilliant -- Stewart Lee