LONDON.- Bright and bold pots, plus prints by leading British and international Pop artists go on display at the Whitechapel Gallery.

Highlights of the Contemporary Art Society show include Picasso plates of faces from the Attenborough Collection; Babe Rainbow by Peter Blake, the British Pop artist famed for the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album cover; and Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry’s huge pot depicting skateboarders called Designer Rebellion.

The exhibition also includes an Andy Warhol screenprint showing the Birmingham, Alabama, race riots in 1963; British Pop artist Richard Hamilton’s My Marilyn (1966) of Marilyn Monroe, plus a toby jug of Gordon Brown and a Margaret Thatcher teapot, and a Jann Haworth fabric tea table.

The works of art feature in a new display, The Best is Not Too Good for You, drawn from the collections of Contemporary Art Society member museums across the Midlands in England and is part of the Whitechapel Gallery’s programme opening up public and private collections for everyone. It draws on the rich history of Staffordshire ceramics in the region including the famous Wedgwood, Spode and Minton potteries. Works on show range from a medieval face jug and 17th century posset pot to a Queen Victoria Jubilee plate to plates by Eduardo Paolozzi.

Founded in 1910, the Contemporary Art Society supports public museums and galleries across the UK, through new acquisitions, gifts, advocacy and advice. A centrepiece of the display is Grayson Perry’s pot Designer Rebellion (1999) which was one of the first works of the artist bought for a public collection, by the Contemporary Art Society for Stoke Fine Art Department.

Contemporary Art Society: The Best is Not Too Good for You is conceived by Arts Council-funded Curatorial Fellow Ingrid Swenson in collaboration with the Whitechapel Gallery. It is the third in a year-long series of displays showcasing important works of art from regional museums across England. This year-long series of displays is supported by a major grant from Arts Council England. The Whitechapel Gallery’s programme of collection displays is supported by specialist art insurer Hiscox.