Class: the ubiquitous yet invisible definer of life in the UK, as perhaps nowhere else in the world. People situate themselves and others through it, whether consciously or not, and class is enacted and performed through the notion of taste: what you and others buy, wear and aspire to are, as much as birthright or socio-economic status, how class becomes visible and identifiable. That is the central background to the ethnological studies Grayson Perry undertook for his TV series’ “All In the Best Possible Taste”, and which informed the fascinating, mesmeric and tragicomic tapestries this books presents and dissects.
Fascinating, because he reprises grand old paintings (Mantegna, van Eyck, Hogarth and Gainsborough) to depict his own visions of the strange and often hysterical society he sees before him; mesmerising because of their form and execution; and tragicomic because for all the pathos in his gaze – bloodied victims of car crash, people imprisoned by those titular vanities, and otherwise suffering from the chronic British disease of embarrassment –there’s also affection for this eccentric, with its chintz, clutter and tendency to over-decorate everything. Preambles in this superb book by the writer Suzanne Moore and Perry himself are also particularly insightful.
Also available, 100% silk, limited edition handkerchief made exclusively by Grayson Perry for Hayward Publishing. For more information please click here.
Grayson Perry, “The Vanity of Small Differences” Featuring essays by Suzanne Moore and Grayson Perry Hayward Publishing
