Small Vanities make a big difference
I AM delighted to be able to announce to all art lovers, at last, something to look forward to!
Next summer, 2021, Touchstones Rochdale will be exhibiting Grayson Perry’s The Vanity of Small Differences.
The Vanity of Small Differences is a series of six large-scale tapestries by the Turner-Prize winning artist Grayson Perry, which explore the British fascination with taste and class.
Inspired by the 18th century painter William Hogarth’s moral tale, A Rake’s Progress, Perry’s tapestries follow the life of a fictional character called Tim Rakewell, as he develops from infancy through his teenage and middle years, to his untimely death in a bloody car accident.
The tapestries are rich in both content and colour and depict many of the eccentricities and peculiarities associated with life in the UK, from interior design to British cuisine, political protest and celebrity gossip.
The composition of each tapestry also recalls early Renaissance religious painting, drawing us in to an art historical, as well as a socio-political exploration.
A three-part documentary, All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry, accompanies the exhibition.
It follows Perry as he develops his ideas for the tapestries and travels to towns and cities across the UK, investigating what ‘taste’ is and how it differs from place to place.
The Vanity of Small Differences is jointly owned by the Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London and the British Council Collection. It is a gift of the artist and Victoria Miro Gallery, with the support of Channel 4 Television, the Art Fund and Sfumato Foundation with additional support from Alix Partners.
Grayson Perry was born in Chelmsford, Essex inb 1960 and lives and works in London.
He is one of the UK’s most celebrated contemporary artists and has had major solo exhibitions at The British
Museum, London (2011), 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan (2007), Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh (2006), Barbican Art Gallery, London (2002) and the
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2002).
In June 2013 Perry was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.He made a valuable contribution to keeping us relatively sane at the start of lockdown with his Art Club on Channel 4.
The UK tour of the tapestries is supported by the Art Fund and the Sfumato Foundation.
More information will be provided in this column as we hopefully move to a new normal that includes opportunities to engage with events in the actual world in addition to the virtual.