There has been a certain amount of huffing and puffing among the usually imperturbable gallery-going set about David Shrigley’s Brain Activity exhibition at the Hayward (until 13 May). People who value the power of art to shock far too highly ever to be shocked by it themselves, have nevertheless been somewhat put out, complaining that Shrigley, who is best known as a cartoonist, should have been given a solo show in such a prominent venue for serious modern art. Shrigley himself, who describes his work as ‘somewhere between handwriting and drawing’, and furthermore ‘not the kind of drawing where you’re trying to get their eyes in the right place’, has confirmed that he is being taken ‘far more seriously’ than he should be. It is the irony of course that annoys his critics as much as anything.

LRB 23 February 2012 | PDF Download