Once a friend said I looked like Grayson Perry. I have to say that it’s a pretty huge compliment, he has great hair (both as Grayson and as Claire). Also he’s without a doubt an incredible artist: one of my all time favourites.
I went to Istanbul for my birthday earlier in the month (another post soon!). On our last day, we realized there was an exhibition by Grayson Perry showing at Pera Museum. His ‘The Vanity Of Small Differences’ tapestries were on display. We couldn’t have stumbled upon a better exhibition as I’ve always loved Grayson’s work but never seen the tapestries in real life. The detail, the colours, everything about them is incredible. Photographs just don’t do them justice at all. They were amazing, some of my favourite art pieces I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing.
The tapestries tell a story of a man called Tim Rakewell who comes from a very working class background in Sunderland. As he grows older and attends university, social mobility comes into play and he makes a ‘better life’ for himself. Tim becomes part of the middle class, and does very well financially. The tapestries show 6 parts of his life, with a slightly gruesome ending. They are based on Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress – a modern take on these old artworks.
You can watch “In The Best Possible Taste” on Channel 4 here. It’s a documentary Grayson filmed to document the research for his tapestries. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be up right now – but it may come back to watch soon (4OD does this a lot! So keep checking back). His other documentary series “Who Are You” is still on 4OD and is well worth viewing.
I decided that I would have a go at 
