Grayson Perry knighted in King Charles III’s first New Year Honours list

Artist has been awarded the title of Knight Bachelor for his services to the arts

Grayson Perry (Getty Images for Sky)

Grayson Perry has been knighted in the New Year Honours for his services to the arts.

Announced on Friday (30 December), the artist was named among other British cultural figures including Stephen Graham, who received an OBE, and Frank Skinner, now the recipient of an MBE.

The 2023 New Year Honours list marks the first by King Charles III since his accession in September 2022.

Perry often cross-dresses and appears in public as his alter-ego, Claire.

He is known for his ceramic vases and tapestries, as well as for being outspoken on societal prejudices and various observations of the contemporary arts scene.

As part of his practice, Perry spends hours meticulously making vases, which at a distance look like ornaments, and are typically covered in words.

On other occasions, the pieces include graphic images depicting his own past or railing against society.

Perry was born in 1960 to a working-class family in Chelmsford, Essex. He began his art career at Braintree College of Further Education and then at Portsmouth Polytechnic, where he studied fine art.

Perry was awarded the Turner Prize in 2003 and has previously served as an arts correspondent for The Times.

Grayson Perry has made a number of TV series looking at people’s relationship with art (Bristol City Council/PA) (PA Media)

In 2014, he became a CBE after an investiture by the then Prince of Wales, now King, and wore what he called his “Italian mother of the bride” outfit for the occasion where he was recognised for services to contemporary art.

Perry has made several TV series looking at people’s relationship with art, as well as exploring gender and masculinity.

In 2020, Perry fronted the Channel 4 series Grayson Perry's Big American Road Trip, in which he crossed the US on a motorbike, aiming to investigate its biggest fault lines, from race to class and identity.

Perry is married to author and psychotherapist Philippa Perry. They have one daughter, illustrator Flo Perry.

Additional reporting by Press Association