- Date: 30 November 2012
- Region: National
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Grayson Perry, The Upper Class at Bay, 2012. Part of an edition of six plus two artist's prints gifted to the Arts Council and British Council collections. Credit: Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro Gallery, London © Grayson Perry
Grayson Perry's series of six tapestries, The Vanity of Small Differences are to tour the UK and abroad for the first time thanks to the joint acquisition of the work by the Arts Council Collection and British Council.
This major work has been gifted to the Arts Council Collection and the British Council by the artist and Victoria Miro Gallery, London, with support from Channel 4 Television, the Art Fund, and Sfumato Foundation. The sharing of the work is the first of its kind for the two organisations.
The Arts Council Collection and the British Council Collection aim to maximise opportunities for British artists and arts institutions in the UK and overseas. The tapestries, which to date have only been displayed at the Victoria Miro Gallery in London, are now set to go on a national and international tour starting in Sunderland Museum and Winter Garden in June 2013.
The work which explores taste, class mobility and the influence social class has on our aesthetic taste was created by the artist alongside the Channel 4 series All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry.
Speaking today, Grayson Perry acknowledged the national and international reach of the two collections: 'I am hugely pleased and proud that The Vanity of Small Differences will be shared by the Arts Council and British Council Collections because this means the work will be able to travel all around the country and the world.
'Thanks also to the Art Fund, Sfumato Foundation and Channel 4; their support means the tapestries now have a chance to reach a very wide and varied audience. Of all the pieces I have made this was the one I conceived from the outset as a public artwork. I hope that wherever it goes it not only delights the eye but also sparks debate about class, taste and British society.'
The Arts Council Collection, run by Southbank Centre on behalf of Arts Council England, is one of Britain's foremost national collections of post-war British Art. For more information and to view the collection online visit the Arts Council Collection website.
