Jeremy Deller’s ‘Joy in People’ is an exhibition of curiosities. On entering I was instantly struck with how difficult it must have been to encapsulate this artist’s creativity in the confines of a gallery space. Even at the Hayward where the rooms are versatile, it seems almost impossible to represent artwork which has always been purposely kept outside of galleries. Viewers looking into Deller’s world are encouraged to physically discover the work themselves: open doors, look behind curtains, listen to recordings and imprint their gallery leaflets with embossing machines… a playground for big kids.
In this first major exhibition of his work it is hard to grasp what Deller actually does. Some things are aesthetically pleasing, but is that the point? The work is communal and involving, for example in the main room a lifesize reconstruction of the greasy spoon, Valerie’s Snack Bar (2009) offers strong tea and a place to sit and reflect. Deller describes himself as a ‘self-taught conceptual artist’, an orchestrator of events and assembler of things. But although Deller is fascinated by life, public affairs and historical events, his real motivation to create is stemmed from people and relationships. Interestingly just moments after walking into the show, I was reminded of the Broken Relationships exhibition I had seen six months earlier… a collection of objects donated by random people as symbols they associate with old relationships. After seeing this retrospective of Jeremy Deller I decided that above all he is a storyteller.
A big fan of the Manic Street Preachers, Deller has one area of work dedicated to the band. An echo of their songs is shown in ‘I <3 Melancholy’ a black on black wall painting from 1995. In the left corner of the wall a girl in black is curled up reading… unaware of the world around her… she is part of the work, a participator in Deller’s vision. Bizarre but oddly moving.
Perhaps Deller’s most familiar piece, The Battle of Orgreave (2001) is a video – a filmed re-enactment of the vicious confrontation between angry miners and police with horses. This brings together nearly 1,000 people in an epic staging of a violent event from the 1984-5 miner’s strike. Speaking about the event, Deller delights in the very ‘real’ performance, commended his participants.
I have studied the musical work ‘Acid Brass’ before (in which a traditional Brass Band plays Acid House anthems)… a giant spider diagram / wall painting: ‘The History of the World’ vividly explains the thought process and the connections (musical and non-musical) between the two apparently not so different cultures. It is a very thought provoking piece that I loved examining again.
As always, I love a bit of audience participation… just before exiting visitors are invited to stamp their books with the three embossing machines, to take home one’s own physical souvenir of the show. One reads: ‘Hell is other people’s money’.
Although this exhibition is fun and informative, it is perhaps difficult to see the boundary between art and memorabilia.
‘Joy in People’ continues at The Hayward Gallery until 13 May, more information here.