The Herald - The Herald Magazine
The Vanity of Small Differences
East Ayrshire Leisure are delighted to host Grayson Perry’s exhibition The Vanity of Small Differences in the Main Gallery of the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock
THE Vanity of Small Differences tells the story of class mobility and the influence social class has on our aesthetic taste. Inspired by William Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress the six tapestries, measuring 2m x 4m each, chart the ‘class journey’ made by young
Tim Rakewell and include many of the characters, incidents and objects Grayson Perry encountered on journeys through Sunderland, Tunbridge Wells and The Cotswolds for the television series ‘All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry’. The television programmes were first aired on Channel 4 in June 2012.
In the series Perry goes on ‘a safari amongst the taste tribes of Britain’, to gather inspiration for his artwork, literally weaving the characters he meets into a narrative, with an attention to the minutiae of contemporary taste every bit as acute as that in Hogarth’s 18th century paintings.
Grayson Perry is a great chronicler of contemporary life, drawing us in with wit, affecting sentiment and nostalgia as well as, at times, fear and anger.
In his work, Perry tackles subjects that are universally human: identity, gender, social status, sexuality, religion. Autobiographical references – to the artist’s childhood, his family and his transvestism – can be read in tandem with questions about décor and decorum, class and taste, and the status of the artist versus that of the artisan.
Brought to you by the ‘Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre London and British Council.
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 AlixPartners’.
The exhibition is FREE and runs until Saturday 26 March. For more information visit eastayrshireleisure.com or call the Dick Institute on 01563 554300. The exhibition is open Tue & Wed 10.30am – 5.30pm, Thu 1.30pm-7.30pm, Fri & Sat 10.30am–3.30pm. Closed public holidays.