Last year, a single project co-created by artist Jeremy Deller was seen live by over two million people across the UK, with some 30 million experiencing it through the media and online. As a memorial to the Battle of the Somme, ‘We’re here because we’re here’ touched the public in a way that contemporary art can often struggle to do. Deller’s role has frequently been that of instigator and/or collaborator and he has a history of public engagement in his artistic practice, which has examined everything from war and politics to folk art (and is now bolstered by social media: see his Strong and Stable My Arse posters). He remains one of the country’s most critically-acclaimed – and popular – artists.
