Here is a fascinating set of four lectures about the role and value of contemporary art in the 21st century.

The speaker is Grayson Perry, known mainly for his ceramic vases. (If you don’t know his name, you can read about him here).

Among the topics …

The topics

• Good art vs. bad art
• The boundaries of art
• Whether art can (or should) still shock us
• The anatomy of the art world – from artists and curators to gallery owners and collectors

Everything from primitive cave-painters through to the Irish terrorists who, in their defence, pleaded that what they did was ‘simply’ an artistic performance.

I was spell-bound: Perry is funny and also clever.

I thought you’ll maybe like these lectures too: it’s a rare opportunity to hear someone talking sense about modern art.

Here’s a link to the BBC where you can listen to them and also download a transcript.

And here’s a link to iTunes.