Grayson Perry Takes on Taste
June 21, 2012
LONDON— Victoria Miro Gallery in has opened its fourth solo show with Grayson Perry. The Exhibition, The Vanity of Small Differences will run in conjunction with Perry’s Channel 4 mini-series In the Best Possible Taste.
In part inspired by William Hogarth’s 18th century painting series, A Rake’s Progress, the project investigates the ways class informs taste in contemporary Britain. “I focus on the emotional investment we make in the things we choose to live with, wear, eat, read or drive,” Grayson explained. “Class and taste run deep in our character. We care. This emotional charge is what draws me to a subject.”
Working with tapestry—a medium with appropriately aristocratic associations—Perry tells the story of Tim Rakewell. Like Hogarth’s Tom Rakewell, Tim’s fortunes rise and fall as he attempts to ascend Britain’s social strata. Growing up in a Sunderland mining family, Tim rejects their working-class predilections in favor of middle-class sensibilities. Tim’s tale concludes in a spectacular Louis Vuitton-littered car crash, its hero the victim of a fast-paced nouveau-riche lifestyle.
This history of modern morals will be available to London gallery-goers until August 11.
Image via Art Daily
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