Victoria Miro

Grayson Perry

09 Oct - 07 Nov 2009

© Grayson Perry
World Leaders Attend the Marriage of Alan Measles and Claire Perry, 2009
glazed ceramic, 52 cm x 32 cm ø
GRAYSON PERRY
"The Walthamstow Tapestry"

9 October - 7 November 2009

The Walthamstow Tapestry explores the emotional resonance of brand names in our lives and our quasi-religious relationship to consumerism. Charting man's passage from birth to death, the tapestry is peppered with leading brands encountered along the way. Stripped of their logos and thus much of their identity, the names run alongside - often incongruous - depictions of people going about their everyday lives: walking the dog, nursing children, skateboarding, hoovering, and, of course, shopping. Perry is a great chronicler of contemporary life, in whose work sentiment and nostalgia sit subversively alongside fear and anger. In The Walthamstow Tapestry many of the world's leading names, from luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Tiffany to high street giants such as Marks and Spencer and IKEA, come under Perry's excoriating gaze in this cautionary and prophetic tale of modern day life. Inspired by antique batik fabrics from Malaysia as well as eastern European folk art this vast work provides a colourful, rich and complex visual journey across our contemporary landscape.

Grayson Perry by Jacky Klein will be published by Thames & Hudson on 5th October 2009, £35.00.

The Walthamstow Tapestry is published by The Paragon Press
 

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