British artist David Shrigley’s solo show, Exhibition of Old Rope, at Stephen Friedman Gallery in London, transforms ten tons of discarded rope into a playful meditation on value in contemporary art. Priced at £1 million, the installation wittily questions how we assign worth to objects.
David Shrigley, known for his deadpan wit and deceptively simple drawings, spent months sourcing rope from across the UK—from maritime lines and climbing schools to industrial sites and shorelines—cleaning and preparing it for display.
The gallery presents vast mounds of coiled rope in varied colors, textures, and conditions, paired with a large, four-part neon in bright orange spelling the exhibition title in Shrigley’s playful handwriting. The show engages with commerce and gallery conventions while drawing attention to environmental challenges posed by modern, hard-to-recycle materials.
The installation continues Shrigley’s broader practice of turning everyday objects into conceptual statements. His work spans sculpture, installation, animation, painting, photography, and music, often engaging audiences outside the gallery space through publications and collaborative projects.
Notable works include Really Good (Fourth Plinth, Trafalgar Square, 2016), Tennis Ball Exchange (Stephen Friedman Gallery, 2021), and The Mantis Muse (Leicester, 2024), blending humor with public engagement.
Exhibition of Old Rope marks Shrigley’s ninth solo show with Stephen Friedman Gallery. Critics have noted the installation’s playful provocation, with The Guardian’s Eddy Frankel describing the million-pound rope as both awkward and potentially mocking in a financially struggling gallery context. Whether collectors will meet the £1 million price tag remains uncertain, especially with other high-profile conceptual works, such as Cattelan’s golden toilet, entering the market.
Born in 1968 in Macclesfield, UK, and based in Brighton, Shrigley has exhibited internationally in cities including Copenhagen, Mexico City, Stockholm, Shanghai, and Seoul. His works are included in major collections such as MoMA, Tate, Centre Pompidou, and the National Gallery of Victoria. He will open a new solo exhibition, What the Hell Was I Thinking?, at Kunsthal Rotterdam in December 2025.
