Conceptual Photography Show at Sprüth Magers Asks: Seriously?
A new group exhibition at Sprüth Magers in London, titled “Seriously,” presents a provocative question about the role of humor in conceptual photography, showcasing a diverse collection of works that range from the absurd to the politically charged. The show, running until January 31st, features a deliberately jarring mix of imagery – clowns, Star Wars figurines, dogs watching pornography, even a colorless cheeseburger – challenging viewers to consider the boundaries between levity and profound artistic statement.
The exhibition’s curatorial approach is immediately striking, filling four floors with both still and moving images designed to provoke a reaction. One work especially resonated with a recent observer, Martine Syms’ “She Mad: The Non-Hero,” a conceptual piece created for TikTok.inspired by Lil Nas X’s “Life Story” series from 2021, Syms convincingly portrays a rising artist grappling with issues of health, depression, and the pressures of online visibility.
The show’s exploration of humor as a subversive force is a central theme. A 2018 work by Sherman features four elaborately made-up figures in tulle gowns, their expressions hovering between a smile and a grimace, seemingly posed in the sea – a deliberately unsettling juxtaposition. Birgit Jürgenssen’s 3D “housewives’ apron” shaped like an oven further reinforces this revolt against stifling gender norms.
The artists’ willingness to embrace the ridiculous is a recurring theme. The text highlights how feminists intentionally made themselves appear absurd to expose the farcical nature of social codes and repressed desires. This strategy extends to other artists, such as Bruce Nauman, whose “Studies for Holograms” feature distorted and exaggerated facial expressions, and Thomas Ruff’s “L’Empereur” series, depicting the artist in slapstick poses amidst domestic furnishings.
Humor also manifests in the artists’ engagement with everyday objects. Thomas Demand’s photograph of a slipper stuck under a door offers a moment of quiet wit, while one wall is dedicated to banal images of a vacuum cleaner, a slice of bread, and a bucket – a deliberate test of the viewer’s tolerance for the mundane.
Though,the exhibition isn’t without its shortcomings. the text notes a sense of frustration when the show veers into parodying other art, with references to fischli/Weiss, Lawler, and Gursky possibly lost on those unfamiliar with art history. Aneta Grzeszykowska’s parodies of Sherman, displayed alongside the originals, are easier to grasp, functioning as “caricatures of caricature.”
The author observes that conceptual art’s inherent tendency towards the ridiculous makes it ripe for comedic interpretation. William Wegman’s “Experiment,” with its deadpan captions – “As an experiment he stood on his head” followed by “Everything looked upside down” – provides a particularly effective punchline. The late Keith arnatt’s 1969 performance piece, “Self-Burial,” documented in a sequence of nine images, is also highlighted, recalling its unsettling broadcast on German television and its darkly humorous implication of mortality.
John Smith’s 1976 video, “The Girl Chewing Gum,” emerges as a standout work, offering a prescient commentary on the manipulation of reality through a narrator’s increasingly fantastical descriptions of unsuspecting passersby. The piece is described as “hilarious, but also eerily prescient in its anticipation of fake news and false narratives.”
Ultimately, the exhibition acknowledges the subjective nature of humor, admitting that many of the gags fail to land with contemporary audiences. The inclusion of carrie Mae Weems’s photograph of minstrel salt and pepper shakers is particularly perplexing, its connection to the overall theme unclear.
“Seriously” ultimately positions humor not as an end in itself, but as a powerful tool for challenging political and social norms. The artists, through playfulness and wit, expanded the possibilities of photography beyond mere documentation, pushing it into more experimental territory. While the exhibition may not elicit belly laughs, it provokes thought and underscores the enduring power of conceptual art to disrupt and question.
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