Metro
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ART REVIEW Demons, Yarns & Tales ***** Those put off by the 'craft' associations in this tapestry exhibition needn't worry: the pieces have as much to do with a fair in a school hall as Grayson Perry's work has with a WI pottery class. Perry appears here, along with 14 other artists who have never worked in the medium before. His Vote Alan Measles For God places one of his characters in a cartoon-like nightmare vision with Abu Ghraib inmates, body bags and the Twin Towers. It's based on Afghan carpets that mix modern weapons and tanks with traditional motifs. Not all the tapestries make such a statement. Beatriz Milhazes's graphic print (pictured) is more decorative than thought-provoking; Jaime Gili's architectural geometry is blunted by this looser medium. For others, the method of creation hasn't added much — Peter Blake's Alphabet simply replaces his screen-printed calligraphy. with one that's threaded. The most successful play with heritage: Shahzia Sikander's Pathology Of Suspension bursts out of its traditional ornate frame, while Kara Walker carves a felt silhouette of a lynched figure into a scene of racially motivated violence from the American Civil War. Fiona Macdonald Until Nov 22, The Dairy, |