Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry gives the 2013 Reith Lectures, presented by Sue Lawley.
Marcel Duchamp famously declared that a urinal was a work of art. It sometimes seems that anything qualifies, from a pile of sweets on a gallery floor to an Oscar-winning actress asleep in a box. So how does the ordinary art lover decide?
In four lectures recorded in front of audiences in London, Liverpool and Londonderry, self-proclaimed transvestite potter Grayson Perry discusses what makes him an artist, and asks what are the limits of contemporary art. He reflects on the idea of `quality, and examines who and what defines what we see and value as art.
The mainstream media seems drawn to the idea of an avant-garde: work is described as "cutting edge, artists are radical", ideas are ground-breaking", "game-changing" or revolutionary. Yet, Perry argues, art has lost its ability to shock; we have seen it all before.
Whilst recalling his own journey, from playing with paint as a child to being an award-winning successful artist, he reflects on being an outsider. He asks why men and women have made art throughout history, and discusses its central purpose: to heal psychic wounds and make meaning.
