Grayson Perry Poem by Sheena Blackhall

Is he playing to the gallery,
With his fey ceramic vases,
His doom-laden tapestries.
This cross-dressing Titan of Art
This dissector of British "prejudices, fashions and foibles"?

Is he Perry or Claire, his female alter-ego,
With his comforter, Alan Measles, his childhood teddy bear,
Tagging along like a shadow?

This two-headed Perry/Claire has held solo exhibitions at
The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam,
The Barbican Centre
The British Museum
The Serpentine Gallery
The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh
The21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan
His personas,united by art

This Perry/Claire person
Won the Turner Prize
Is married,
A father,
A mountain biker

Claire is a Bo-Peep matriarch,
A middle-England champion for No More Art
An aero-model-maker,
An Eastern European Freedom Fighter
Eater of ready meals, we're led to believe

Even the pottery's complex:
Glazed, incised, embossed
Relief sculptures pressed on the surface….

Bayeaux Tapestry stitchers, eat your heart out:
See Perry's The Walthamstow Tapestry
Hundreds of brand names encircling large figures
Moving from birth to death

A computer controls his loom

HisTV documentary series
Was all in the best possible taste

In her coming out dress
Claire is a golden ghost

So why do men wear frocks?
Transvestites, and how to react?
And who are you?
A Mr a Mr/s a miss?

Do you suffer from Bungalow Depression?
Are you a green witch or a merry Diana?