Artist Grayson Perry will share another facet of his creativity this weekend when he unveils details of his most ambitious project to date - A House for Essex.
Born in Chelmsford, with studios in Walthamstow, he always embraced his roots and has now built a holiday home in tribute to the area and its women.
The Turner Prize-winner will share details of the ambitious and highly personal project, which aims to challenge the reductive myth of the ‘Essex Girl’, in Channel 4’s programme Grayson Perry’s Dream Home.
The ornate temple-like structure created with FAT Architecture and Living Architecture has been built on the site of a derelict farm in Wrabness, north Essex, overlooking the Stour estuary.
It was inspired by a fictional woman Perry dreamt up called Julie Cope, who was born in Canvey Island at the time of the great floods of 1953, lived in Basildon, South Woodham Ferrers, Maldon and Colchester.
© FAT, Living Architecture
She married, had children, divorced and married again to a man called Rob who took her on a dream holiday to India, before, back in Essex, she was killed by a takeaway delivery moped. Rob had promised that, if she died before him, he would build a Taj Mahal – a monument to love – on the banks of the Stour, and he kept his word.
Perry travelled the county looking for inspiration for the building and speaking to its women and overcame doubt by locals about the addition to the rural area.
The result is a building clad with 1,925 bespoke ceramic tiles, with the roof clad in a copper alloy and adorned by three large cast aluminium roof sculptures.
Inside Grayson has created a series of unique artworks for the house, exploring the special character and unique qualities of Essex, with four large tapestries celebrating Julie’s life.
Grayson says: “I’ve never done anything where a moment of creativity has had such repercussions.“ The programme will show him taking a group of real-life Essex women, all called Julie, to visit the house, where they ask if Julie represents his mother.
“This is about ordinary lives and being aware of what matters,“ he answers, “celebrating our relationships and our connections with people… who we come home to watch telly in the evening… who we love. This is a temple to that.“
Grayson Perry’s Dream Home will air on Channel 4 on Sunday, May 17 from 9pm.
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