Grayson Perry and the Art of Being Respectable (2026)

Sobre la exposición

Taking the artwork Expulsion from Number 8 Eden Close (2012) from the Amparo y Manuel Collection as its starting point, the exhibition revolves around the series The Vanity of Small Differences (2012). Through six monumental tapestries, Grayson Perry chronicles the rise and fall of Tim Rakewell, tracing his journey from a working-class background to tech wealth and his inevitable demise.

The work acts as a contemporary reimagining of William Hogarth's A Rake's Progress, whose original engravings are also featured in the gallery. By bringing together tapestries, ceramics, and prints, the exhibition offers a sharp visual critique of social mobility, identity, and the aspirations of modern life.

Sobre el artista

Grayson Perry

Chelmsford, Essex, Inglaterra, 1960.

La obra de Perry aborda temas universales como la identidad, el género, el estatus, la sexualidad y la religión, pero además destaca por su atento escrutinio a la sociedad británica y a su sistema de clases. De esta manera el artista indaga en los gustos y aversiones sociales, acercándose a una suerte de antropología a través de Claire, su alter ego travestido, y trabajando con técnicas tradicionales como la cerámica, el fundido, el grabado y la tapicería, y también a través del medio audiovisual. Su serie All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry documenta la creación de seis tapices que exponen la ética y la estética de la sociedad británica.

Texto curatorial

"Nothing has as strong an influence on our aesthetic taste as the social class in which we grow up" - Grayson Perry.

Grayson Perry, celebrated for his bold ceramic vessels that pair traditional craftsmanship with provocative, socially charged imagery, places social class at the centre of his storytelling. Class is the great British obsession felt in every accent, every gesture and every quiet judgement. Perry’s art captures the small but telling details of taste and status that shape how we see ourselves and how others decide where we fit. Bold and inviting colours become one of his sharpest tools, inviting us in and guiding the eye through narratives of aspiration and belonging with humour and clarity. While Perry’s work touches on anthropological or pseudo-ethnographic concerns, he remains fundamentally a practicing artist whose visual language is direct, incisive and culturally attuned.

Grayson Perry grew up in Essex, a part of the UK frequently targeted by classist stereotypes that mock the supposed tastelessness of its residents. His early career developed in the era of Thatcherism when social mobility was promoted as a national ideal and citizens were encouraged to climb the class ladder. Yet this political shift also intensified class divisions, making questions of status, taste and belonging more visible while at the same time more complex and difficult to articulate.

When Perry won the prestigious Turner Prize in 2003 he famously remarked, “It’s about time a transvestite potter won the Turner Prize!” He accepted the award as his alter ego Claire, whose bright, exuberant outfits are integral to his exploration of class and identity. Claire challenges the unwritten rules that define taste, regulate gender expression and limit who is allowed to be visible. In a society where class often encourages people to “know their place,” Claire positions individuality as a powerful act of resistance against social expectation.

This exhibition centres on The Vanity of Small Differences, a monumental tapestry series that uses rich detail and sumptuous colour to map Britain’s anxieties and aspirations around class and taste. Art historical references permeate the work, most notably William Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress, which can also be seen in the exhibition and whose canonical narrative of ascent and inevitable decline provides the structural model. Created in 2012, Perry’s tapestry series captures a specific moment in Britain’s social history and prompts reflection on what has shifted in the years since and what continues to shape class experience today. As social class becomes increasingly fluid and difficult to define, his acute observations transform these complexities into a vivid visual language of images, symbols and cultural cues. The tapestries reward close looking. Spend time absorbing every detail. Consider what feels familiar and what feels alien. And finally, ask how you relate to the hierarchies of power and taste that permeate Perry’s vision of contemporary Britain.