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Jeremy Deller

BritishBritish
, b. 1966

In his own estimation, Jeremy Deller is not an artist of a single medium (his works use many), but rather an instigator of social interventions. Critic Mark Brown once referred to Deller as a “pied piper of popular culture”—an apt reference to Deller’s extensive use of music and sound, his deliberately lowbrow approach, and his performance pieces that often require participation of the viewer. His works frequently look towards historic events and archives as a source, which he then builds upon accumulatively with found materials. One of his best-known pieces is the massive performance the Battle of Orgreave (2001), a re-staging of an infamous clash between striking miners and the police in 1984. Deller is also known to frequently collaborate with other artists. “I work because I’m interested in other people,” he has said. “I’m nosy.” Deller won a Turner Prize in 2004.