‘Seriously,’ says Sprüth Magers, art can be funny too

At Sprüth Magers, London, group show ‘Seriously’ delves into humour in art, from the satirical to the slapstick

photograph of man's body, in yellow top and brown trousers, lying across knocked-over chairs
Thomas Ruff, L'Empereur_05, 1982
(Image credit: Thomas Ruff / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025. Courtesy Sprüth Magers)
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‘I read something by the Nobel Prize-winning writer, Herta Müller, where she said humour is the white trampoline in a dark corner – and I really liked that,’ says curator Nana Bahlmann, who has been considering what makes something funny for new exhibition, ‘Seriously’, at London’s Sprüth Magers. ‘Previously, I had been approached by the gallery to do a show on conceptual photography – I thought it would be quite dry, but when I started looking into it, I found that there's so much more humour and wit in the work. The show grew from that.’

Bahlmann criss-crosses mediums in a far-reaching dive into humour, including photography, film, print media and audio, embracing everything from the slapstick to the witty, observant, subversive and naughty.

artwork from ‘Seriously’ at Sprüth Magers

John Baldessari, Portrait: Artist's Identity Hidden with Name/Date Cards (4 MR. 74), 1974

(Image credit: © John Baldessari 1974. Courtesy Estate of John Baldessari © 2025. Courtesy John Baldessari Family Foundation; Sprüth Magers)

artwork from ‘Seriously’ at Sprüth Magers, showing woman behind inflatable washing machine

Helen Chadwick, In the Kitchen (Washing Machine), 1977

(Image credit: Copyright Helen Chadwick. Courtesy Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, Rome & New York)

‘It's not purely conceptual,’ says Bahlmann. ‘There is a lot of work from the late 1960s and early 1970s, up to work from 2025. There is a lot of visual wit throughout, which you can need in order to get a message across. So there's 1970s feminist art, for example, which plays with that, because how else do you get the attention? There's a lot of cross-references between artists in the show as well, which is quite funny.’

Artists citing and parodying each other throughout add a sly edge to the enjoyably vast curation. There are Peter Fischli and David Weiss works rephotographed by Thomas Ruff; Jonathan Monk referencing Louise Lawler and artist duo Bernd and Hilla Becher; while Cindy Sherman, Thomas Demand, and Andreas Gursky all appear with their own work or through the lens of someone else’s.

photograph of men behind reception desk, from ‘Seriously’ at Sprüth Magers

Andreas Gursky, Desk Attendants, Provinzial, Düsseldorf, 1982

(Image credit: © Andreas Gursky / DACS, 2025 Courtesy Sprüth Magers.)

grid of photos showing progress of man apparently burying himself, from ‘Seriously’ at Sprüth Magers

Keith Arnatt, Self-Burial, 1969

(Image credit: © Keith Arnatt Estate. Courtesy of the Keith Arnatt Estate and Sprüth Magers. Photo: Stephen White, 2018)

Wit may be famously subjective, but in such a big collection, it would be hard not to find something to smile about. ‘On one floor there is the role of the artist, and a play on identity role play,’ says Bahlmann. ‘On another, we’re looking at the body and landscape, or the body in relation to objects.’ It leads to a dissection of object humour, and a reframing of the mundane world we know through sharp satire and gentler mimicry. ‘I've made a lot of discoveries of artists I like through working on this exhibition,’ she adds. ‘I’ve had enormous fun.’

'Seriously' at Sprüth Magers, London until 31 January 2026, spruethmagers.com

photograph of person wearing giant glove over their head, from ‘Seriously’ at Sprüth Magers

Laurie Simmons, Walking Glove, 1991

(Image credit: Courtesy of the artist)

photograph of red plastic toy with red nose and eye, from ‘Seriously’ at Sprüth Magers

Keith Arnatt, Dog Toy, 1992

(Image credit: © Keith Arnatt Estate. Courtesy of the Keith Arnatt Estate and Sprüth Magers)
Hannah Silver

Hannah Silver is the Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*. Since joining in 2019, she has overseen offbeat art trends and conducted in-depth profiles, as well as writing and commissioning extensively across the worlds of culture and luxury. She enjoys travelling, visiting artists' studios and viewing exhibitions around the world, and has interviewed artists and designers including Maggi Hambling, William Kentridge, Jonathan Anderson, Chantal Joffe, Lubaina Himid, Tilda Swinton and Mickalene Thomas.

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