Collective’s Artist In Residence at London’s Serpentine Gallery.

I was asked to be in this show back in November. It was short notice but the Serpentine’s a pretty important space and the list of artists was impressive, so I was happy to be included. The curator, Rochelle Steiner, only wanted me to include existing work - I suppose because she didn’t think I’d have time to make anything new. But, as it happened, I’d just finished a new set of drawings so they were included alongside a sculpture I’d shown at Kunsthaus Zürich last summer and a piece from my show at Camden Arts Centre in 2002.

The title (and remit) of the exhibition refers in part to the current nature of the contemporary art world. Contemporary art no longer evolves through discernable movements and artists cannot be defined through their use of media, thus it’s hard to place a survey-type show of this kind. It’s just “what’s happening at the moment”. State Of Play also refers to the common thread that links the artists’ work - playfulness, irony, humour…

There are 12 artists in the show: nine Europeans, two Americans and a Brazilian who lives in Belgium. Andreas Slominski has built a wall from top to bottom (apparently “a right pain in the arse” to build) while Maurizio Cattelan has made a public artwork on the streets of London. Sadly, though, I’m not allowed to say what it is because it relies on being anonymous.

Of the three video installations in the exhibition, Christian Jankowski’s Puppet Conference wins in my opinion, but only because it has The Muppets in it. You can’t go far wrong with The Muppets as far as I’m concerned. The highlight for me, though, is Sarah Sze’s network of mini bright orange fire escapes that climb the wall of the main gallery to the ceiling. It’s great.

It’s also great to see three works by the New York-based artist Tony Feher, who’s hardly shown in the UK. His work is perhaps akin to the improvised sculptures of Tom Friedman or Jim Lambie, though Feher comes from a slightly older generation and I think his work has a more minimal, poetic feel to it.

Clearly, there’s more than enough good stuff in the show to warrant a visit. In fact, I’d go and see it myself if I wasn’t in it. David Shrigley 13 February 04

State Of Play is at the Serpentine Gallery, London, until 28 March 04.

David Shrigley’s exclusive animated series, Modern Thought, will be coming to Collective soon.

see more images by david shrigley

useful link: www.serpentinegallery.org