YORKSHIRE.- An installation by Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller focusing on Welsh rock band The Manic Street Preachers, goes on show this Saturday, 6 June, at the Bothy Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park .

Part of a display of new acquisitions for the Art s Council Collection, the work entitled The Uses of Literacy was recently acquired for the Collection with help from a £20,000 grant from independent charity The Art Fund.

The Uses of Literacy comprises an arrangement of paintings, collages, drawings, books, poetry and paraphernalia, donated by fans of the Manic Street Preachers. Deller had initially advertised in the music paper Melody Maker, requesting fans to send him material related to the band. He then assembled the material into an extensive installation.

The installation, dated 1997, is an important piece from Deller's early career, examining popular culture and contemporary folk traditions, as well as exploring the relationship between fan and performer. The Uses of Literacy also reverses the usual hierarchical order between artist and the public, by displaying works of amateurs in the gallery. In Deller's eyes, he is not 'appropriating' the material as his own, but rather acting as curator of it.

Thanks to The Art Fund, the UK 's leading independent art charity, this key work by Jeremy Deller has been acquired for the Art s Council Collection - a distinguished collection notable for important early works by outstanding British artists, which is managed by the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, on behalf of Art s Council England.

Andrew Macdonald, Acting Director of The Art Fund, said: "This artwork, by one of the UK 's leading contemporary artists, offers an original take on popular culture and the music industry. We are delighted to have helped make it part of the Art s Council Collection, making it accessible to people all over the country."

Caroline Douglas, Head of the Art s Council Collection at the Hayward Gallery, said: "The Art Fund has made it possible for us to seize a rare opportunity to purchase a key early work by this highly influential artist which is a major acquisition for the Collection and one we are confident will prove enduringly popular."

Jeremy Deller was born in London in 1966 and studied art history at the Courtauld Institute of Art . He won the Turner Prize in 2004. Centring on the notion of collaboration and participation, Deller's projects extend to orchestrated events, films and publications.

The Uses of Literacy goes on display at Yorkshire Sculpture Park this Saturday, 6 June until Sunday 28 June.