Dec 09: A transvetite potter beat the creators of a pair of bronze sex dolls on Sunday to land the Turner, Britain’s most controversial art prize.
Brothers Jake and Dinos Chapman were hot favourites to win the 20,000 pound ($34,560) prize, with their graphic depiction of oral sex. But the judges opted instead for Grayson Perry, a British ceramic artist who likes to dress up as a woman and call himself Claire. Perry, sporting a blue Shirley Temple bouffant dress, said on accepting his award: ‘‘It’s about time a transvestite potter won the Turner Prize.’’ He is the latest in a long line of controversial artists to land the prize.
‘‘I think the art world had more trouble coming to terms with me being a potter than my choice of frocks.’’ Given a kiss of congratulations by fellow artist Peter Blake, Perry said: ‘‘I want to thank my wife Philippa because she has been my best sponsor, editor, support and mainly my lover’’.

‘‘One of the reasons I dress up as a woman is my low self-esteem, to go with the image of women being seen as second-class. It is like pottery: that is seen as a second-class thing too,’’ he said, before the award was announced.
The Chapman brothers grabbed all the media attention in the run-up to the prize-giving with their bronze sculpture, which even prompted the Tate Britain gallery to warn: ‘‘This is not recommended for children under the age of 16’’.
Perry, a close second in both the betting and the shock tactics battle, took the prize with elegantly painted vases that boast such titles as ‘‘We’ve Found The Body Of Your Child 2000’’. That vase features an image of a distraught mother next to her lifeless baby. A man walking away appears to be the perpetrator of the crime. ‘‘Most people reading the title will think of paedophiles, but over 90 per cent of all child murders are committed by the parents,’’ the artist points out. The shocking images are only apparent from close up.