Richard Ansett

Hardcover | 24 x 1.91 x 30 cm | 112 pp

ACC Art Books | 2023 | 9781788842327 

Best known in the art world for his ceramic works, to the wider public Grayson Perry 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.

"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, The Royal Photographic Society