Grayson Perry to teach lockdown art classes in new Channel 4 show

Turner Prize winning artist Grayson Perry will launch a new Channel 4 show that will teach the self-isolating nation how to find their creative side and make art. The new show, called Grayson’s Art Club, is part of suite of programmes that Channel 4 is currently developing to reflect the extraordinary times we’re experiencing under the Corvid-19 lockdown.

In Grayson’s Art Club, Perry will teach lessons on drawing, painting and sculpture as well as well as talking to artists about their creative process. Speaking to The Evening Standard about the aims of the show, Perry said. “Accessibility is a part of what I want to do which is make art an ordinary part of life but a stimulating part of life. I’m not really talking to the art world, I’m more interested in the average Joe on the sofa.”

As well as encouraging people to learn skills and, we imagine, have a lot of fun, the TV show also has a wider mission. Some exercises will involve viewers creating work inspired by their life in self-isolation with the aim to exhibit some of the artworks after the pandemic is over. The work will provide a unique snapshot into the experiences of normal people in these abnormal times.

Other new shows currently being cooked up in the Channel 4 scheme, dubbed Lockdown Academy, include a back to basics cooking show from Jamie Oliver, a craft show by Kirstie Allsopp and a daily talk show by journalist Steph McGovern presenting from her Yorkshire living room. Grime Gran (aka Margie Keefe) is set to make daily broadcasts about lockdown etiquette and couples who have had their matrimonial plans cancelled will be able to have their ceremony broadcast on TV in Wedding in Lockdown.

“In these extremely uncertain and challenging times, public service broadcasters like Channel 4 play a vitally important role in holding our nation together,” said chief executive Alex Mahon, in a statement about the new programmes. “We are here to inform the audience with trusted news and current affairs, to help them stay in touch with what’s going on around them and, just as importantly, to lift them up and make them feel connected with the rest of the world when they are isolated at home.”