Jeremy Deller

Jeremy Deller’s keen interest in social history, politics and music has led him to develop a practice that straddles conceptual art, performance, installation and video. Preferring to “work with people rather than things”, Deller brings people together from different backgrounds to create encounters, objects and events as various as local festivals, documentary archives and political banners. Since 2000, he has worked with Ed Hall, who makes banners for trades unions and British clubs and associations.

Jeremy Deller’s banners display a variety of messages that can be understood by anyone: “More poetry is needed”, “Smoking kills”, “Every age has its own fascism”,... With their combination of colours and height, these banners evoke street processions and festival parades. “I love processions – as humans, it’s almost part of our DNA to be instinctively attracted to big public events that bring us together”, says the artist. Some of the banners were made specifically for the street, others to be shown with specific films that add to their meaning. These works examine the formation of identities, whether individual, collective, national or peripheral. Showcased in Lyon Biennale within former railway workshops, Jeremy Deller’s textile and video installations recall the militant spirit of French railway workers and the social and trade union struggles that once lit up the site.