Jeremy Deller is known for provocative artworks. Photograph: Cristiano Corte/sgtpepperat50.com
Posters bearing the words “strong and stable my arse” which were spotted across London over the weekend are the work of the artist Jeremy Deller.
Passersby began tweeting pictures of the posters from Peckham to Soho to Kentish Town on Friday, but the question was: who was behind them?
Deller confirmed to the Guardian on Monday that he was responsible. He said he hoped the posters were self-explanatory, particularly after “this U-turn this morning” from Theresa May on Conservative party social care policies.
No mincing words in Camden! #StrongAndStable #strongandstablemyarse #camden #GeneralElection2017 #theresamay #TheresaMayIn5Words #election pic.twitter.com/LPLDftByF8
— Marcella Golan (@marcella_golan) May 19, 2017
Love. This.#StrongAndStablemyarse pic.twitter.com/kGIXJcJ4an
— Richard Battye (@RichardBattye) May 20, 2017
I want this poster #StrongAndStableMyArse pic.twitter.com/IwIxn6dPtq
— f a b s t e r (@fabsternation) May 21, 2017
London, I love you. pic.twitter.com/poCPVVqLw3
— James Brian (@iamjamesbrian) May 19, 2017
Strong and stable my arse’, a Jeremy Deller artist’s poster ‘out there’ #FlyingLeaps pic.twitter.com/pOxOE97T7m
— Mark Borkowski (@MarkBorkowski) May 22, 2017
The artist is known for creating provocative works that seldom fit within the walls of a gallery. One of his best-known is The Battle of Orgreave, in which he orchestrated a re-enactment of the violent 1984 confrontation between miners and police.
He has also asked the Williams Fairey brass band to perform acid house music and persuaded Iggy Pop to pose naked for a life drawing class at the Brooklyn Museum.
In July last year he devised a work to mark the centenary of the first day of the battle of the Somme. Without any advance publicity, around 1,500 men in first world war uniforms appeared in public spaces without speaking.
Deller won the Turner prize in 2001 and represented Britain at the 2013 Venice Biennale with an exhibition portraying Britain as “wistfully aggressive”.
The “strong and stable my arse” posters have been put up by the Flyingleaps project which aims to show artists’ work “on street poster sites to make unexpected, thought-provoking contributions to the urban spectacle”, according to its website.
It also offers limited edition signed street posters for sale at affordable prices. As of Monday morning the artists included kennardphillipps (Peter Kennard and Cat Phillipps), Marcus Harvey, Dolores de Sade and, “coming soon”, Jeremy Deller.
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