Jeremy Deller’s new book, which he describes as “a sort of retrospective”, is called Art Is Magic. It reflects his belief in the alchemical power of art to transform the everyday – “if only for a moment, making the mundane profound”. He did, however, consider several other alternative titles for the book, including “That’s Not Art”, “Call That Art?” and “You Can’t Do That”, all of which are things people have said to him about his work.
While most conceptual artists probably accept that a certain degree of public bemusement comes with the turf, Deller is that rare thing: a conceptualist who feels the need to explain his art. “I do, yes,” he says, nodding, when we sit down to chat amid the organised clutter of the office of his flat overlooking north London’s Holloway Road, where he does most of his thinking and planning. “I’m aware that a lot of artists don’t, but I come from the approachable, rather than the obscure, school. To me, my work is quite obvious in a way, more obvious than a lot of contemporary art, but it is definitely conceptual insofar as I start with an idea and see what happens. That still unsettles people who expect art to be on gallery walls.”
