THE artist Grayson Perry has woven the 21st-century answer to the Bayeux Tapestry.

Instead of the Norman invasion, the Walthamstow Tapestry, which is 49ft long, tells the story of modern Britain’s conquest by the ideology of consumerism.

The work, to be unveiled this week by Perry, 49, takes its name from the London suburb where he has his studio.

The scenes show how consumer brand names have invaded every corner of life as the characters progress through the seven ages of man from birth to death.

In each section there are elements of the natural world and objects such as aeroplanes. But dominating everything on the cloth are the brightly coloured depictions of nearly 200 brand names such as as Disney, Kellogg’s, KFC, Body Shop, Durex, Louis Vuitton and Armani.

“We need to question all those who unquestioningly buy into consumerism and the whole world of shopping,” said Perry, who won the Turner prize in 2003.

“Logos and brands have inveigled their ways into our society from birth to death.”

Perry has been working for more than a year on the tapestry, the largest and most complex work in his 25-year career. He first designed the work as a drawing, which was then transferred into digital form and sent to a specialist weaver in Belgium.

Three copies of the Walthamstow Tapestry have been made — one will hang at the Victoria Miro gallery in Islington, north London, where this week’s exhibition will open. Another has been bought by a private client and the fate of the third is not yet known.

Perry, who dresses as a woman to visit shows, has also made six pots, including one depicting the Westfield shopping centre in west London, described by the artist as a “pantheon to consumerism”.

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