Grayson Perry Chelmsford, Essex, Inglaterra, b. 1960
78 3/4 x 157 1/2 in
En primer plano, dos luchadores de jaula se inclinan ante el niño presentándole íconos simbólicos.Uno ofrece una camiseta de fútbol del Sunderland Association Football Club, mientras que el otro sostiene una lámpara de minero; ambos hacen referencia al orgullo que las comunidades del noreste de Inglaterra sienten por su herencia industrial. Como emblemas de la cultura de la clase trabajadora y la identidad regional, sitúan la historia de Tim dentro de un contexto social específico.
This tapestry series traces the narrative of Tim Rakewell, a contemporary reworking of William Hogarth’s Tom Rakewell. The first work is set in the home of Tim’s great-grandmother and we see him as an infant cradled in his mother’s arms, in her hand she holds a smartphone with which the infant Tim competes for his mother’s attention. This composition deliberately echoes the art historical trope of the Madonna and Child, however here it is reworked to suggest that consumerism occupies the space once held by religion.
In the foreground, two cage fighters bow before the child presenting him with symbolic icons. One offers a football shirt from Sunderland Association Football Club while the other holds a miner’s lamp, both reference the pride that communities in the North East of England take in their industrial heritage. As emblems of working-class culture and regional identity they situate Tim’s story within a specific social context.