Featuring six 2 x 4 metre tapestries, the Vanity of Small Differences exhibition opens at the Broad Street museum on Saturday 9 October and runs until Saturday 18 December. The Hereford event follows in the footsteps of successful exhibitions in London and in galleries throughout the world. The tapestries are full of images and stories of class, identity and taste, inspired by William Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress.
A multi-award-winning artist, Grayson Perry has featured in a number of television programmes on the BBC and Channel 4, including Grayson’s Art Club, which aired during the Covid lockdown. His books include Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl and The Descent of Man.
In the series Perry goes on “a safari amongst the taste tribes of Britain”, to gather inspiration for his artwork, literally weaving the characters he meets into a narrative, with an attention to the minutiae of contemporary taste every bit as acute as that in Hogarth’s 18th century paintings.
Hereford artists exhibit their work
Liminal Lemurs by Jessica C. Oleksy is one of the submissions received to feature as part of the wider exhibition.
Artwork by local people will also feature as part of the wider exhibition. Work submitted by members of the public and Hereford College of Arts students includes pieces by Maggie Sanderson of Rejuvenate creative carer group as well as a poignant personal journey piece by Jessica Olesky, who was in Mexico when it went into lockdown due to the pandemic.
Every one of the works submitted will form part of a virtual display via Herefordshire Council’s website. These will also be available to view on an interactive screen within Hereford Museum and Art Gallery and will be viewable on YouTube from 9 October.
Judy Stevenson, Hereford’s Museum team leader, says:
“We are so excited to be showing Grayson Perry’s thought-provoking tapestries in Hereford and delighted that the exhibition has provided Herefordshire residents with a creative opportunity during lockdown. It drew many people together, online, and gave individuals an outlet to express their feelings and experiences. The results are wonderfully creative pieces, which reflect the appeal and inspiration of Grayson Perry.”
We will be posting mini exhibitions of the public submissions across our social media channels from Saturday 9 October.
Visitors to the museum will be able to walk off the street into the exhibition without having booked in advance. Opening hours are 10-4pm, Tuesdays-Saturdays. Entrance fees are £5 for adults; under 18s and students with ID are welcome free of charge.
