DAVID SHRIGLEY: BRAIN ACTIVITY

A couple of weeks ago I went to the latest superb exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London's Southbank Centre.  240 of cartoonist David Shrigley's laugh out loud, weird and wonderful works make for a very light-hearted art gallery trip indeed.

I'd last seen a collection of his amusing, odd little drawings up in Scotland during the Edinburgh Festival 2006, at the Printmakers Gallery - I remember letting loose with proper not-appropriate-in-a-gallery laughter there and had a similar reaction this time round too...

Shrigley's first major London show includes plenty of his surreal cartoons alongside photography, sculpture, animation, painting, books and music.  My only criticism was that I'd seen the majority of the works before.

Adjoined to the Scottish artist's retrospective is Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller's Joy in People exhibition, which is also fantastic.  Over the past two decades, Deller has amassed masses of work - littered with cultural references from the 80s/ 90s/ the north (the miners' strike/ Morrissey/ raves/ angsty teenage bedroom art etc) - and this survey is a great overview including installations, photographs, videos, posters, banners and an eerily beautiful 3D film about bats.

I particularly enjoyed stopping for a cuppa in the Valerie's Snack Bar café, sorry caff, installation which is a reconstruction from its namesake greasy spoon in Bury Market, Lancashire and was featured on a parade float when the artist curated the Manchester International Festival's procession in 2009.

After enjoying the immersive Pippilotti Rist show, the Hayward is fast becoming one of my favourite London galleries... You will have seen the irreverent 'I'M DEAD' poster all over the tube, but if you haven't checked it out yet, you must before it closes.

David Shrigley: Brain Activity, runs until Sunday 13 May 2012

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