Jeremy Deller at Turner Contemporary Gallery.

It was the opening of the new Jeremy Deller exhibition at the Turner Contemporary Gallery on Saturday. link to gallery site here  Part of the exhibition called English Magic, has been on tour since it was first seen at the Venice Biennale in 2013.

The British Council  has an article about Jeremy Deller and the British Pavillion in Venice here.

On the opening day, the Melodians Steel Orchestra were playing and the gallery was packed. The orchestra played music from Jeremy Deller's film and other works and were joined by The Big Sing, Turner Gallery's  resident choir. They also performed a piece arranged by Emily Peasgood part of the SoundsLikeArt project.

I really like the sound of the steel drums, which seem to have a particular energy that is uplifting.

I made my way upstairs during their performance to stand and look down at part of the orchestra from above.

The main galleries had the English Magic exhibition and some small Turner paintings chosen by Jeremy Deller.  I only had a brief walk round and will go back several more times before the exhibition ends.

The large wall art pieces are dramatic, the figure of William Morris overturning a luxury yacht in the Venice lagoon, and the Hen Harrier holding a crushed Range Rover in it's claws.

Other exhibits include Neolithic hand axes, photos from the Ziggy Stardust Tour of 1972  and text based banner type works.