It’s here: ‘Thank God For Immigrants’ signed poster reissue

Partnerships

It’s here: ‘Thank God For Immigrants’ signed poster reissue

Promoting his book – just released in paperback by the way, and a brilliant survey of the artist’s hugely varied output to date – Jeremy Deller was asked, “Is all art magic?” His answer, “It should be, but not necessarily. But when it’s good, yes.”

Deller’s work celebrates art’s life-changing powers: to spark attention, pose questions, call out malfeasance, provoke ideas and emotions, promote discovery and cock a snook at power...

“Art is a way of staying engaged and in love with the world. It is also a form of magic, its alchemical power transforming reality, if only for a moment, making the mundane profound. It does things that are not logical and can trick us. It can be deeply absurd and even stupid at times.” And, when it takes the form of a poster declaring ‘Thank God For Immigrants’, it can prick the conscience of a nation.

Produced by Deller together with his design partner Fraser Muggeridge and made specifically to be displayed in windows, this poster originally appeared in public, April 2020. During this period the UK was in an extended Covid lockdown. There was a profound feeling that NHS and other key workers, many of course immigrants, were keeping the country afloat in the direst of circumstances. More specifically Deller’s said, “The idea partially came from the people I had hung around while making (a film documenting protest in the wake of the vote for the UK to leave the EU) ‘Putin’s Happy’ (2019), people who had anti-immigrant views and whose lives because of Covid were possibly being saved by immigrant healthcare staff. Does someone’s opinion about immigration change when an immigrant saves their life?”

20.08.24

Words by Adrian Burnham

For three decades – since making posters for speculative exhibitions in the mind 1990s – Deller has returned time and again to this popular, consciously ‘low brow’ medium. Understated first in material terms, the life of street posters (and their sticker cousins) is usually short-lived, ephemeral, that’s partly the point. It’s a medium capable of responding to an issue, a matter of concern, quickly and directly. They don’t carry the freight of ‘fine art’. They address diverse audiences because of this as well as their more ‘democratic’ placement in the streets. And being both plain-speaking and a visually captivating poster ‘Thank God for Immigrants’ is designed to catch the eye of passersby.

Alright, we know that religious antagonisms can lead to people being displaced, forced to cross borders but that’s not the message here. The phrase is simple, a heartfelt plea set against shimmering bands, ethereal tints of rainbow colours glowing as if in warm affirmation of the text.

A new iteration of Jeremy Deller’s ‘Thank God For Immigrants’ is currently displayed in various formats across the UK courtesy of BUILDHOLLYWOOD. The signed, open edition is being made available to purchase via the artists’ street poster outfit flyingleaps. This fundraising 30X20 inches ‘Thank God For Immigrants’ poster is printed on 115gsm blue-backed billboard paper, priced at £50.00 (plus p&p).

All profits from the sale of this artwork will be split between two beneficiaries. First, for obvious reasons, we chose the Refugee Council. And from numerous smaller charities that need support we plumped for Revoke, a grassroots organisation advocating for the rights and care of displaced young people deprived of power or a voice. So, as well as being both a balm and cry of conscience on the streets, part of the magic of Deller’s latest ‘Thank God For Immigrants’ re-release is that once again we can raise some much needed funds to support important causes.

Purchase the ‘Thank God For Immigrants’ fundraiser print here.

Build Hollywood

Build Hollywood

Partnerships