Demons, Yarns and Tales

One of the main criticisms thrown at contemporary art is that there’s no skill involved. Bricks in a row? Unmade beds? Dead cows? Tents? Blimey, I could throw some old junk together and make 100 grand; the world’s gone mad; how do they get away with it? etc. are just some of the many indignant responses to the likes of Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and others who dare not to paint a still life.

So Demons, Yarns and Tales should satisfy all those who do ( and those who don’t ) hurrumph  at conceptual art.
The exhibition, at a disused dairy in Bloomsbury is the brainchild of Christopher and Suzanne Sharp, Founders of The Rug Company.
The pair have brought together 14 contemporary artists including Grayson Perry, Julie Verhoeven, Peter Blake and Gavin Turk who over the last three years, have each created a tapestry.
The results are stunning, surprising and illuminating.
Instead of paint and canvas the artists have worked with thread and wool to make wall –hangings covering subjects as diverse as race, war, fairytales and the environment.

Grayson Perry’s Vote Alan Measles for God is an uncomfortable collection of hard-edged images we associate with the war on terror and its perceived global threat : ammunition, Osama Bin Laden, the Twin Towers.
Gavin Turk’s Mappa del Mundo shows a map of the world filled with crisp and chocolate wrappers, crushed beer cans and cigarette packets: the international language of junk food and consumerism; the international problem of pollution and an entire world straining under a mountain of rubbish.
Julie Verhoeven’s Far From the Madding Crowd  is fashion females meet Disney-esque fairytale animals : Bambi, a cute rabbit and flowers.But these images of innocence are made sinister by the women’s haunted faces and faraway stares.

The beauty of all the tapestries is that they are accessible and relevant whilst, through their sheer scale and detail are made special and inviting.
The history of tapestry as a recorder of war, kings and conflict; our memories of writing essays on the Bayeux tapestry or being forced through old castles and crumbling houses to ponder faded wall hangings are all turned on their head. Suddenly the purpose of painstakingly weaving an idea or event into a tapestry, and so into the mind, makes perfect sense.

And Kara Walker’s A Warm Summer Evening in 1863, using an image from Harpers magazine during the American Civil War captioned “ The Destruction of a Colored Orphan Alysum on 5th Avenue,” is a compelling and timely example.
We see the silhouette of a lynched female figure, surrounded by a baying mob in a racially motivated attack.With the recent election of America’s first black President, Barack Obama, this work serves as a poignant reminder of how far the country has come and a lesson to us all that we should remember the prejudices of the past – and not repeat them.

Who knows, in years to come children may complain about having to study a tapestry of Obama, and wonder why having a black President was such a big deal.

Demons, Yarns and Tales, The Dairy,7 Wakefield Street, London, WC1, until 22nd November.
Admission: FREE