Grayson Perry: The Vanity of Small Differences

7 June - 11 August 2012
Victoria Miro Gallery II

Information

16 Wharf Road, London N1 7RW
Download:

Victoria Miro is delighted to announce its fourth solo exhibition with Grayson Perry.

In The Vanity of Small Differences Grayson Perry explores his fascination with taste and the visual story it tells of our interior lives in a series of six tapestries at Victoria Miro and three programmes, All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry, for Channel 4.  The artist goes on a safari amongst the taste tribes of Britain, to gather inspiration for his artworks, literally weaving the characters he meets into a narrative partly inspired by Hogarth's A Rake's Progress.

Grayson Perry comments: "The tapestries tell the story of class mobility, for I think nothing has as strong an influence on our aesthetic taste as the social class in which we grow up. I am interested in the politics of consumerism and the history of popular design but for this project I focus on the emotional investment we make in the things we choose to live with, wear, eat, read or drive. Class and taste run deep in our character - we care. This emotional charge is what draws me to a subject".

Perry has always worked with traditional media; ceramics, cast iron, bronze, printmaking and tapestry.  He is interested in how each historic category of object accrues over time intellectual and emotional baggage. Tapestry is the art form of grand houses: depicting classical myths, historical and religious scenes and epic battles. In this series of works Perry plays with idea of using this ancient allegorical art to elevate the commonplace dramas of modern British life.

The artist's primary inspiration was A Rake's Progress  (1732 -33) by William Hogarth, which in eight paintings tells the story of Tom Rakewell, a young man who inherits a fortune from his miserly father, spends it all on fashionable pursuits and gambling, marries for money, gambles away a second fortune, goes to debtors' prison and dies in a madhouse.

The Vanity of Small Differences tells the story of the rise and demise of Tim Rakewell and is composed of characters, incidents and objects Perry encountered on journeys through Sunderland, Tunbridge Wells and The Cotswolds. Hogarth has long been an influence on Perry's works, his Englishness, his robust humour and his depiction of, in his own words, 'modern moral subjects'. The secondary influence comes from Perry's favourite form of art, early Renaissance painting.

Each of the six images, to a greater or lesser extent, pays homage to a religious work.  Including Masaccio's Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Matthias Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece, Rogier Van de Weyden's Lamentation and three different paintings of The Annunciation by Carlo Crivelli,  Grünewald and Robert Campin.  The images also reference the pictorial display of wealth and status in The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan Van Eyck and Mr & Mrs Andrews by Thomas Gainsborough.  Woven into each tapestry are snatches of text, each one in the voice of a participant in the scene illustrated. Each image also features a small dog, reminiscent of Hogarth's beloved pug, Trump.

Channel 4's three-part series, All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry was shown in June 2012.

Victoria Miro

16 Wharf Road
London N1 7RW
t: +44 (0)20 7336 8109

info@victoria-miro.com

View map

Victoria Miro Venice

San Marco 1994,

Calle Drio La Chiesa

30124 Venice, Italy

t: +39 041 523 3799 

info@victoria-miro.com
View map

Opening Times

During exhibitions:

London: 
Tuesday–Saturday: 10am–6pm. 

 

Venice: Tuesday–Saturday: 10am–1pm & 2–6pm. 

 

We are also closed on Sundays, Mondays and public holidays. 

 

Admission free. 



 

Enquiries

All general enquiries should be sent to
info@victoria-miro.com

 

All press enquiries should be sent to
press@victoria-miro.com
 
All rights and reproduction enquiries should be sent to
rights@victoria-miro.com


Victoria Miro does not accept unsolicited artist applications.

 

Before contacting or subscribing please read our Privacy Policy

 

We respect the choices you make about how you would like to hear from us. You will find links at the bottom of all emails we send from our mailing list which allow you to Update your preferences to change the way we contact you, or Unsubscribe if you want to opt out.

 

Read our Modern Slavery Statement here.

 

Read our sustainability statement here.

Subscribe

Staff contact details

Directors

Victoria Miro
W.P. Miro
Glenn Scott Wright
Gussie Huddart
Executive Assistant to Directors
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7549 0491

Sales

Divya Pande
Head of Sales
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7324 0903
Oliver Miro
Director of Sales
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7549 0496
Paula Sankoff
Senior Director, Sales
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7549 0494
Clare Coombes
Director of Sales - Museum Acquisitions
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7324 0919
Simon Kirby
Director of Sales
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7549 0498
Alessandra Modiano
Director of Sales
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 3962 4346
Will Davies
Director of Sales
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 3962 4355
Fern Warriner
Associate Director of Sales
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7324 0905
Pia Sophie Biasi
Director – Venice
Direct line: +39 041 523 3799
Alexandra Leverett
Senior Sales Administrator
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 3962 4344
Victor Schagerlund
Sales Administrator
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 3962 4356
Libby Tyler
Sales Administrator
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7324 0912

Exhibitions

Erin Manns
Director of Exhibitions - Head of Department
Direct line: +44 (0) 7780 463 580
Jessica Green
Director of Exhibitions
Direct line: +44 (0) 7957 195 504
Rachel Kent
Director of Exhibitions
Direct line: +44 (0) 7852 751 045
Mary Taylor
Production Director
Direct line: +44 (0) 7950 267 092
Simona Pizzi
Artist Projects Director
Direct line: +44 (0) 7848 006 894
Imogen Sampson
Exhibitions Associate
Direct line: +44 (0) 7572 724 115
Virginia Sirena
Exhibitions Associate
Direct line: +44 (0) 7950 267 246
Julia Oborne
Digital & Exhibitions – Vortic Exhibition Associate
Direct line: +44 (0) 7883 702 323

Communications

Kathy Stephenson
Director of Communications
Direct line: +44 (0) 7803 611 186
Martin Coomer
Head of Editorial and Digital Content
Direct line: +44 (0) 7930 490 411
Marisa J. Futernick
Digital and Social Media Consultant
Direct line: +1 (860) 549 2576
Content and Communications Manager
Direct line: +44 (0)7375 789 535
Bea Bradley
Photography, Rights & Reproduction Manager
Direct line: +44 (0) 7957 787 866
Aimee Blow
Design and Communications Coordinator
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109

Operations

Robert Holzberger
Director of Operations
Direct line: +44 (0) 7986 580 363
Photini Pavlidis
Senior Facilities and IT Manager
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7324 0914
Olivia Singh
Operations Manager
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7549 0493
Vicky Polakovic
Front of House and Events Coordinator
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7324 0913
Mary Eleanor McNicholas
Art Fair Coordinator
Direct line: +44 (0) 7896 548 233
Clare Rowe
Paper Archive and Records Manager
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Philip Ewe
Library Coordinator and Archive Assistant
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Adeline Guy
Registrar Director - Head of Department
Direct line: +44 (0) 7490 237 709
Jayne Archard
Senior Registrar
Direct line: +44 (0) 7496 865 055
Alice Panton
Senior Registrar
Direct line: +44 (0) 7852 751 046
Emer Bermingham
Senior Registrar
Direct line: +44 (0) 7984 073 772
Fiona Holdsworth
Assistant Registrar
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Amelia Power
Assistant Registrar
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7324 0901

Technical Services

David Wood
Technical Director, Head of Department
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Jon Glazier
Head Technician
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Martin Fletcher
Senior Technician
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Jonny Winter
Senior Technician
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Rob Phillips
Senior Technician
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Ross Taylor
Technician
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109

Finance

Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109