‘There’s no disputing what it is. It’s a big cock’, says the artist.
In his new Channel 4 show, All Man, artist Grayson Perry has been examining the topic of masculinity and what it means to be male in the modern world. He’s pissing off meninists and taking names.
The past two episodes have seen the self-professed “life-long sissy” plunge headfirst into the worlds of cage-fighting and street crime.
On this week’s final episode, Grayson tackled yet another exclusive enclave of maleness in society – the financial sector.
As well as the show, Grayson has been inspired by his time in finance to produce some other work – most notably an enormous statue of a penis made of ceramics. At 68cm tall, the Turner prize-winning artist says he “couldn’t be prouder” of his creation.
Featuring the face of chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne and a series of folded origami banknotes, the sculpture was Perry’d attempt to create something that “could hold its own amongst all the marble of the City lobbies.”
As the artist explained:
“[I wanted to] draw attention to the unquestioned maleness of its world. Men dominate the financial centre especially at the top so I wanted to make something that said it’s there all the time, it’s the centre of gravity that’s pulling us all in.”
In finance, animals are often used to exemplify certain human behaviours. Being reserved and careful, for example, is described as “bearish”, while taking risks and being aggressive is described as “bullish”.
Inspired by this, Perry created a large renaissance style piece of a mythical animal – half bull and half bear – which he claims is “All male”. In fairness, it does look pretty demonic.
Twitter reaction to Perry’s discussion around masculinity has been overwhelmingly positive, with many men claiming it has helped them better understand themselves. Of course, women love it too…
"Centuries of male domination means their ideology/bias is presented as common sense."#GraysonPerry Great exploration of masculinity #AllMan
— Kate Magee (@katemagee) May 19, 2016
https://twitter.com/Pip_Squeaking/status/733419709018689536
https://twitter.com/neonbubble/status/733416694736003073
Why can't Grayson Perry run the country? #graysonperry
— Mags (@deadbloke) May 12, 2016
https://twitter.com/beccatlb/status/730088021945667584
https://twitter.com/MrsRoyKeane/status/730079545064366080
Keep getting teary during Grayson Perry All Man.
— Thomas Andrew (@ThomasAWriter) May 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/LydiaJReid/status/729785055883739136
"Centuries of male domination means their ideology/bias is presented as common sense."#GraysonPerry Great exploration of masculinity #AllMan
— Kate Magee (@katemagee) May 19, 2016
The latest episode of Grayson’s adventures (Rational Man) can be found on the 4OD website.
