Join the Saint Juste Vigilantes by Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925-2006) is a print showing two different red drums with rough line work, each one repeated once over in the bottom half of the work. Each drum is outlined with the words from the title, representing a call to action in the combination of the text placement and the metaphor drums often carry. A location is listed at the bottom, likely referencing the call to action. 

Finlay often combined textual elements with his artwork in his printmaking, as is seen here with this print card. Similar works sharing this call to action were also done by Finlay for the Saint-Just Vigilantes, who were a conceptual art group and protest movement created by Finlay in the 1980s. The group was founded to defend Finlay against the Scottish Arts Council during a funding dispute and was named after the French Revolutionary figure Louis de Saint-Just. 

Ian Hamilton Finlay CBE, 1925-2006

Although he studied at Glasgow School of Art, Finlay’s first creative success was as a writer. His discovery of concrete poetry in the 1960s was a major breakthrough in his practice and he began to produce booklets, posters, and wall-mounted works combining text and form. Major works of conceptual sculpture using text were produced by craftsmen to his specifications. Drawing on ideas from classical philosophy and the French Revolution, he began to exhibit widely and was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1985. His garden at Little Sparta in the Pentland Hills, begun in 1966 and now looked after by a trust, is considered to be the finest manifestation of his work.