Jeremy Deller Artist Research

Jeremy Deller

Jeremy Deller is an English conceptual, video and instillation artist who often creates work in collaboration with others.

His work has a strong political message or undertone, often bringing controversial subjects to the forefront. Encouraging people to discuss political issues and incite debate. He was awarded the Albert Medal (RSA) for 'creating art that encourages public responses and creativity' in 2010.


He also collects and displays groups of objects or art, for example in 2013 he exhibited a collection of drawings by imprisoned ex-servicemen forcing new discussion and debate over the Iraq war.

A keen animal lover, he was outraged to hear about two endangered birds that were shot over the queens property in Sandringham allegedly by Prince Harry. As a response he created the following picture of a massive Hen Harrier flying off with a Land Rover grasped in its talons.

 I particularly like this piece, the imagery is striking and over the top, but skillfully painted. Its subtle message drawing people to learn more about a story that has been widely ignored or brushed under the carpet.

"The Sandringham Estate" 2013 Jeremy Deller

Further reading;

http://www.jeremydeller.org/

The Politics of Display Notes

The Politics of Display

Taste, Value, Judgement

Where an object is displayed;
The relationship between exhibitions, museums, collections and visual culture.
Where we encounter an object is an important element in shaping how we encounter it.
This ‘where’ will enter into the interpretation that is made of the work.
In contemporary situations, it is the museum that plays a major role in organising our conceptions and perceptions of what is, and what is not, an art object.

How does our perception of an object change when it is displayed in a famous museum like the Guggenheim or displayed in a craft fair.

"People" might question the legitimacy of the artist if the work is not displayed in a museum or fashionable art gallery.

Cabinet of Curiosities
Were very popular 100 years ago, travelers (gentlemen) would collect items and display them all together. Ceramics, weapons, photographs, taxidermy, etc etc. Often these would be organised in order of the date they were found or collected.

Cabinet of Curiosities

This way of displaying items has seen a resurgence in recent years, with Damien Hirst's "Forms Without Life 1999"
This is also a way of re-imagining the way of displaying items.

The Tate Modern

http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern 

Built in a disused power station
Its a massive imposing structure and can be seen as the small person walking into the massive world of art.
Opened in 2000
Owned by the Tate's of Tate & Lyle sugar.
There have been demonstrations about building the Tate with "blood money" from slavery.
There have also been demonstrations about Tate's sponsorship by BP as they have rather unscrupulous business practices.

The original Tate gallery in Millbank was built on a disused prison.
As discussed before prisons are a place to improve people just as art is also seen as doing.

Tate Modern's collection is relatively traditional.
Western, European, and north American art.
It is separated into, surrealism, modernism, etc.
Largely ignores the work of women artists.

Museum of Modern Art
Opened in New York in 1929
Pioneered a new way of displaying art, which has dominated the way we display objects.
 Alfred H. Barr developed the "Torpedo" a "machine for the future"



En-equality in Art
Women are still underrepresented in art galleries across the world.
Many female artists have tried to change this.
Its interesting that of all the women represented in all the galleries in the world 90% of them are the nude models in paintings. 


Art is grouped together in museums and galleries by;

The Art Style - Modernism, Surrealism, etc
or
Period
or
by Categories - Material Gestures, Poetry and Dream, Scale, Energy and Process.