The large tapestries were created for the BAFTA award-winning Channel 4 Series All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry, which first aired in June 2012. The series followed Perry as he embarks ''on a safari amongst the taste tribes of Britain'' to gain inspiration for his work.
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Inspired by William Hogarth's A Rakes Progress, the tapestries chart the ''class journey'' made by young Tim Rakewell, and feature many of the characters, incidents and objects that Perry encountered on journeys through Tunbridge Wells, Sunderland, and The Cotswolds for the television series.
The Beaney will host the first regional exhibition of the tapestries in the South East following a display at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath. The works were gifted to the Arts Council Collection and the British Council by the artist and Victoria Miro Gallery, London, supported by Channel 4 Television, the Art Fund, Sfumato Foundation, and AlixPartners.
Grayson Perry said: ''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.''
This is the second time The Beaney has displayed work by the former Turner Prize-winner and the exhibition is likely to be extremely popular. The exhibition forms part of the international Canterbury Festival which runs from 15 October to 5th November 2016 featuring hundreds of performances and displays across a variety of venues throughout Canterbury.
Grayson Perry: The Vanity of Small Differences will be on display from 8th October to 4th December in the Special Exhibitions Room at The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge in Canterbury. See here for more details.
The Vanity of Small Differences is jointly owned by the Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London and the British Council Collection. Gift of the artist and Victoria Miro Gallery, with the support of Channel 4 Television, the Art Fund and Sfumato Foundation with additional support from Alix Partners.
This exhibition has been supported with loans from the Arts Council Collection and is sponsored by The Canterbury Auction Galleries.
