Never Give Up

Never Give Up (2013 – ongoing) is a site-responsive text work, spelled out across the windows of public buildings. This positive yet defiant message engages passers-by, welcomes visitors and projects a rallying cry to all who face adversity in difficult times.

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Images

Photo credit: Tim Herbert
Photo credit: ESAD Reims (Vincent VDH)
Photo credit: ESAD Reims (Vincent VDH)
Photo credit: Exeter Phoenix
Photo credit: Oliver Rudkin

Who helped to make this

Never Give Up was developed with the support of Artsadmin’s Artists’ Bursary supported by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation, and originally installed at Exeter Phoenix.

Where this work has ended up

Never Give Up has been hosted by / exhibited at:

  • Exeter Phoenix, in the solo exhibition Against All Odds (2013)
  • Toynbee Studios (London), as part of LOW PROFILE’s Artsadmin bursary showcase (2014)
  • The Royal Standard (Liverpool), as part of the group exhibition Gettin’ The Heart Ready (celebrating TRS’s first 10 years and move to new premises in the Baltic Triangle) (2016)
  • École Supérieure d’Art et de Design de Reims (Reims, France), as part of WEFRAC21 (2021)

Never Give Up also features in Hasbro’s Exeter Edition Monopoly set (published 2015) in the “Coventry Street” space.

LOW PROFILE commissioned Sarah Smalldon to make an illustration of the facade of Exeter Phoenix, for a limited-edition A3 art print, offered as a reward on LOW PROFILE’s 2017 crowdfunding campaign.

Never Give Up (2013- on-going) was acquired by Collection FRAC Champagne-Ardenne in 2019.

Bonus content

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Limited edition print

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Never Give Up

Never Give Up reflects our interest in determination, hopefulness and reassurance. The mantra (drawn from advice found in The Book of Survival, a 1960s publication, that offers the promise to leave its readers mentally equipped ‘to survive’ anything) is a message to ourselves as much as a gift to others. The artwork also allows us to temporarily turn the host building into a ‘beacon’, signalling to those outside that it is a safe place and supportive environment in which to gather.