An exhibition about Frank Brangwyn’s designs for the Rockerfeller Center and other works.

Find out more about Frank Brangwyn and his role in the founding of William Morris Gallery.

Image: Frank Brangwyn in his studio.

Architect and designer Philip Webb (1831 to 1915) was sometimes known as the Father of Arts and Crafts Architecture. He was a champion of “the art of common building” and a business partner of William Morris. This exhibition celebrates their work.

This exhibition explores the relationship between William Morris and Thomas Wardle and their experimentation with natural dyes and printing techniques and how their interest in colour led them to the textiles of India.

Thomas Wardle, who lived from 1831 to 1909, owned a family silk dyeing business and in 1897 Queen Victoria gave him a knighthood for his services to the silk industry. His collaboration with William Morris, famously known as leader of the Arts and Crafts Movement, flourished into a friendship that lasted until Morris’ death in 1896

The centrepiece of the exhibition at the library is the magnificent Peacock and Bird carpet, donated to the Gallery in 2010 by The Monument Trust.

Distributed is an installation of everyday objects in public buildings around Waltham Forest, including The Mall, Priory Court housing estate, shops along Hoe Street and the William Morris Gallery. These beautiful and functional door sculptures will activate a dialogue with the local community and explore our relationship with the urban environment that surrounds us.

Distributed is a new public art project for Frieze Projects East, and has been commissioned by CREATE and The London 2012 Festival. This series aims to bring the best artists to east London in 2012 by working with each of the six Olympic host boroughs.

‘Consumerism is very lazy. It’s a sort of sugar rush, like eating sweets… Luxury goods are dangled in front of us because people can make money out of them, not because they give any lasting satisfaction.’

On 2 December 2003, Grayson Perry (born 1960) accepted the coveted Turner Prize wearing a lilac babydoll dress. Equally famous for his ceramics and his cross-dressing, he became a celebrity overnight. A self-confessed lover of ‘beautiful things’, his work delights in the possibilities of the decorative surface. Colour, texture and pattern are all used to attract the eye and draw us in. The power of his work lies in the deliberate clash between form and content – between beautiful objects and the challenging, often disturbing subject matter they address.

This exhibition features one of Perry’s most powerful works, a vast tapestry (3m x 15m) exploring the impact of branding and advertising on our everyday lives. Chronicling man’s passage from birth to death ‘via the shops’, Perry captures all the humdrum details of our daily lives. His exploration of the corrosive powers of consumerism throws up some interesting parallels with William Morris, who expressed similar ideas over a century earlier. Both also share a connection to the Walthamstow area, where Perry has had his studio for many years.

With insightful contributions from the artist himself, the exhibition will explore the motivation and inspiration behind the creation of the Walthamstow Tapestry.  In a world where it is seemingly impossible to escape the power of advertising, this work encourages us to consider the feelings and emotions that different brands evoke in our own lives.

Image shows detail from The Walthamstow Tapestry © Grayson Perry

Photographer Paul Tucker captures fleeting moments of the William Morris Gallery in transition, the Forest Poets create new work inspired by objects from the gallery’s collection, and printmaker Anna Alcock displays her winning cover design for this year’s E17 Trail Guide.

Image: Anna Alcock