The Vanity of Small Differences

Telling a story of class and taste, aspiration and identity, tapestry series The Vanity of Small Differences saw Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry travel the length and breadth of the UK, 'on safari amongst the taste tribes of Britain'. The result is a monumental exploration of the 'emotional investment we make in the things we choose to live with, wear, eat, read or drive.'The six vibrant and highly detailed tapestries presented here bear the influence both of early Renaissance painting and of William Hogarth's moralising series, literally weaving characters, incidents and objects from the artist's research into a modern-day version of A Rake's Progress (1733).Featuring essays by journalist Suzanne Moore (The Guardian, The Mail) and Grayson Perry, alongside extensive commentary on each of the tapestries and their making, this book is an essential companion to one of the key contemporary art works of the last decade.Published on the occasion of the Hayward Touring UK exhibition Grayson Perry: The Vanity of Small Differences, touring in 2013–14 to Sunderland Museum in the Wintergarden (27 June – 29 September 2013), Manchester Art Gallery (31 October 2013 – 31 January 2014), Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (14 February – 11 May 2014), Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (May – July 2014), Leeds Art Gallery (August – October 2014).