ART 'n' Ab ART - The Vanity of Small Differences

Grayson Perry Exhibition

Usher Gallery, Lincoln

You may have seen the Channel 4 series for which these huge tapestry were originally designed. A contemporary take on The Rakes Progress, Grayson Perry, with his usual perspicacity, insight and wit. explores the idiom of the self made man, the rags to riches narrative. How class itself, and how each of us sees class, informs and bedevils what our aspirations are for ourselves.

What TV cannot adequately convey is what the scale of these works feels like. They are huge, taking up a good part of the gallery walls in the splendid Usher Gallery extension. These are objects that you can stare at and study for ages, and still discover another aspect that is not apparent on first view. It is full of wry comments a plenty. 

One of my favourite remarks is a representation of a Hello magazine cover that says - Alan de Bottan shows you around his temple. Which has more mischievousness than at first appears. Satire is almost Grayson Perry's not very secret weapon. Amidst all the late 60's alternative comic styling and caricatures in his drawings, Perry has always been the inheritor of Hogarth's mantle. In this exhibition he is paying overdue direct homage to his eighteenth century antecedent.

And like Hogarth, Perry takes us through the birth. aspirations, successes and fall from grace of his contemporary version of the rake. These cross references, between today and the 18th century - the moral decadence, the corruption inherent to fame and success, the role of substance abuse in a person's decline. But no one here is treated unsympathetically, they as much the victim of the values, delusions and moral vacuum of the surrounding society, as the progenitor of their own fall.

His chosen medium, tapestry, holds another parallel, of the biblical or classically inspired wall hangings, meant to be instructional to the viewers, that once would have hung on baronial walls. In Perry's hands, these develop a garish colourfulness and rich range of stitch and effect. Manufactured through computer aided design and weaving processes, these works of art are also quite stunning visual pieces. Which communicate instantaneously what they are trying to say. This readability and accessibility is a touchstone of Grayson Perry as an artist, communicator and as a person. What you see is what you get.

CARROT CAKE REVIEW 19 - The Gluten Free Deceit - Again!

Stamford, Lincolnshire.

As we returned from our North Yorkshire holiday we diverted our route home to take a B L F break ( bum, leg & food ) in Stamford. We also wanted to investigate a local fabric shop to see if they had anything to suitable for Cottonwood Home (there was).

Stamford as a market town, is a place with it's own distinct charm, full of beautiful honey coloured stone fronted buildings, most of them significantly of a certain age and maturity. Though it looks as though Stamford ought to be a county town, it isn't, it is, however, slap bang next to Burleigh House and its estate. It is clear that this and its position by a main north south axis road have always left both hands deeply plunged into the lucre. But like any small town with a shopping centre across this island, in this era, it has significant missing teeth in its high street's dentures. There is also an uneasy 'ghetto zoning' of high and low end shops that betrays an unevenly spread wealth divide.

On a previous visit we'd had quite a lovely lunch in this cafe, so we had no qualms about returning. This particular bright winter's afternoon its windows were steamed up very badly. This is never a good thing for a cafe, not to be able to see inside until you enter. It is, however, despite the condensation, definitely a popular destination even in January.

After giving the cake range a greedy scan, I spotted a carrot cake, ordered it with my preferred afternoon thirst quencher, an Earl Grey tea. Sat down at a somewhat wobbly table, trying not to rest my arms heavily on upon it whilst perched on an modern style clear perspex chair. Thus I awaited my tea and cake expectantly.

When it came, my goodness it was a massive wedge. Whilst its ingredients appeared evenly sized and distributed it looked far far far too near beige for my liking. Had a carrot been anywhere near this cake? Had a framed picture of a carrot just been left on a shelf nearby? Had a carrot been used instead of a wooden spoon? This was too pale a tint to be anything like a true representation of the sacred edible carrot cake classique.

Nevertheless I opened my gob and shovelled a fork full in. What happened next was the most actively unpleasant taste sensation I've experienced in quite a while. The moment this morsel of cake landed upon my tongue it immediately sucked up all the saliva from it, becoming this doughy clag sticking to the roof and basement of my palate. God, I've been deceived, affronted by a gluten free carrot cake.... again!  No amount of telling myself to be calm, just keep your cool, don't get too worked up, it really isn't worth it, was working. Just think of all the people for whom a gluten free carrot cake is a lifesaver. Yes, I was thinking of them, in very sharp definition.

Hubby assures me, the claggyness indicates it was rice flour that performed this abomination of a carrot cake. There were plenty of nuts, the texture, before it congealed into a playdo-de-goo, felt strandy, but tasted not of the venerable carrot, nor, suspiciously, of any spice mix. Well, at least it wasn't a spice cake I offered myself as consolation, to a sotto voche response of a sneering grunt.  Though definitely lifted by the cream cheese topping, this sat looking a little flushed and sweaty on the top as if all the responsibility placed upon it to save the day, was giving it a nervous breakdown. An excess of sugar never saves a cake, no matter how beseechingly it behaves

But the question as my teeth, tongue and mouth struggled to disentangle, work around and through their burden, was - what exactly was this cake? Its wasn't by any stretch of the baking almanac a carrot cake, self-evidently. Was it a walnut cake? What on earth did this cake taste of? Its as though an alien from outer space made a carrot cake based solely upon a fuzzy photo. So, basically, this was of no distinct flavour previously known to humankind.

There was no sign, no forewarning, no excuse - so its a 2 for you.... Pah!


CARROT CAKE SCORE - 2/8