The Vanity of Small Differences
Manchester Art Gallery
Having watched the the channel 4 television series ' All in the best possible taste' I was really excited that the exhibition had come the the Manchester Art Gallery. Having enjoyed his exhibition at the British Museum in 2011, I was looking forward to seeing the six tapestry's now on show.
What I was not expecting was the vivid colours that hit you as you walk through the gallery.
Each tapestry telling a story about the British class system. What I have gained from several visits to this exhibition is Perry's use of media and the amount of research that goes into each piece. In the book that accompany's the exhibition 'Grayson' explains he choice of using tapestry, in that a lot of the status associated with tapestries, historically, due to their huge cost and the enormous amount of skilled labour needed to produce them. Now in this digital age, the Art work was handed over to specialist computer technicians that converted the drawings into digital files and then woven on a computer controlled loom at high speed. Each tapestry taking as little as five hours to produce, compared to the historical ones seen in large stately homes which would have taken months if not years.
The detail in each tapestry is amazing, as can be seen in this tiny section of 'Expulsion from Number 8 Eden Close'. There are a few pages from Grayson's Sketch books, that show simple drawing of ideas that are then worked through to the final pieces.
I like in particular the small notes that he's make to himself with regards to style and reference to other Artists.
What I'm taking away with me is research, knowing your subject well and excited that visual language can be used as a tool to record current life and for me a way of understanding our history and the different media we can use to do that.
The technology used to create this work, has also inspired me and confirmed some niggling feelings about its use and the skill involved in using digital media as a creative tool.