The Ballad of Julie Cope - The Second Tapestry

Part one finished with Julie and her two children separating from husband Dave when their marriage finally came to an end - Grayson Perry's second tapestry deals with what happens next.

Life is hard for Julie but she has gained confidence and found her feet as a single women and mother.

This tranquil image, echoed by the peace signs on Julie's jumper, captures the new sense of harmony in her life after her divorce from Dave.

She holds her children Elaine and Daniel close as they wave to their father in the distance. 

Despite his flaws Dave turns out to be a good father to both his children - Daniel and Elaine are growing up quickly and soon they will be leaving home to pursue their own lives.

The children have left home, and now in her mid forties Julie attends the University of Essex, Colchester. There she meets Rob, an IT technician and divorcee, with whom she falls in love - they find profound happiness together. Rob takes Julie travelling to different parts of the world. Here they are happily embracing one another during a bird watching trip, a passion shared by both.

Life has changed dramatically for Julie - Daniel and Elaine are grown up, and she is now a Social Worker living in historic Colchester, the oldest recorded Roman town in Britain. Here she is walking down the street with her colleagues. She holds a file labelled "Casework 2003" which tells us that she is now 50 years old.

Julie is happy, she has a fulfilling job - she and Rob are now married and very much in love

Julie, now aged 61, is crossing a damp street in Colchester whilst going about her duties. Suddenly a motor scooter, driven by a youth delivering curries, comes hurtling around the corner knocking poor Julie down -

and she dies.

Julie, aged 61 years (1953 - 2014) - an everyday women from Essex

R.I.P 

❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖

This is not the end of Grayson Perry's fictional story;

heartbroken Rob had promised that should Julie die before him, he would build a Taj Mahal – a place of pilgrimage, a shrine, a monument to Julie and to their love. 

To this end Rob kept his word - 'Julie's House' now sits on the banks of the River Stour in Essex.

To take a video walk around Rob's shrine click here.

There is also a Channel 4 programme here about Perry's Dream House - as far as I am aware this can only be viewed within the UK.

The Ballad of Julie Cope - The First Tapestry

Grayson Perry enjoys an international reputation for his colourful and unusual pots, but is now gaining a name for his fantastical tapestries. His latest two tapestries present his own fictional story about an everyday Essex girl called Julie Cope. The tapestries represent the trials, tribulations, celebrations and mistakes of an average life lived. Historically, large-scale tapestries provided insulation for grand domestic interiors; Perry has juxtaposed its associations of status, wealth and heritage with the current concerns of class, social aspirations and taste.

 Baby Julie arrived into the world on the 1st February during a great flood on Canvey Island in 1953 - she was the second born daughter of June and Norman Cope.

 Her father used a broken chair leg to breach the roof of their home so that he could hold newborn Julie aloft and save her from the ever rising flood.

Ho! Ho! Ho! here comes the local policeman to the rescue

All safe - mother, father, eldest daughter, and baby Julie escape the rising waters just in time 

Perry created this rich visual story on a computer. He then worked closely with a digital mediator and tapestry weavers to translate the vivid 1970s colour palette of his original digital drawings into a woven textile. Like an impressionist painter, he maintains the vibrancy of the palette through a combination of woven colours that are blended by the viewer's eye. 

Julie is now a teenager - 16 years of age. She lives in the new town of Basildon in a 1960s concrete tower block where rather strangely the street names are taken from Tolkien's 'Two Towers'. She has met and fallen madly in love with Dave. On her green t-shirt is the logo of Dr. Feelgood, a punk band from Canvey Island where she was born. 

Julie has married her teenage sweetheart Dave, and everyone agrees that they are the perfect match - but are they? This family portrait shows ominous signs as Julie and Dave look away from one another. 

Julie and Dave now have two children - a boy called Daniel, and a girl called Elaine

Julie named her first born child, Daniel, after a 1973 hit single by singer Elton John - her choice, not Daves - Elton John's music was not his taste.   

'I'm so sorry, D x' 
 Julie's bouquet bears an apolgetic note from her unfaithful husband Dave which points to the future breakdown of their marriage forever.
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Next time, the second tapestry shows the story of what happened to Julie and her children in their new life without Dave.