David Shrigley: ‘A ripe banana is a good metaphor. A place for eccentricity, decadence and craziness’

For our new Brighton House, like every new site, the art collection endeavours to be a reflection of the location. First and foremost, we acquire the work of artists born, based or trained in the city. I see our artist research lists – compiled over many months and sometimes years – as pretty non-hierarchal. But if I was pressed, I would gladly reveal that David Shrigley was the big fish we needed to catch for the Brighton collection. 

A Turner Prize-nominated artist with an international profile, museum shows and a huge public following, his signature style is an irresistible mix of the mundane and absurd, laced with deadpan humour and caustic wit. We caught up on-site at our newest opening as we were about to reveal his brilliant contribution to Brighton Beach House – our first ever artist-designed swimming pool.

I’ve always loved the photographs of David Hockney painting a mural on the floor of a swimming pool in Los Angeles in the late 1980s. It was a mission of mine to have an artist work with us on a Soho House pool. The combination of your work, the seaside and the Brighton pool was perfect to me, but what appealed to you?
‘I think when you live in a small city like Brighton and you are obviously going to use Soho House, if you’re invited to actually help create the fabric of the building, then you have to do it. It’s kind of vanity in a way. I can say: I did that! So, I said yes, and I’m really happy I did.’

Tell us about your design.
‘The pool was in an arc, so to me it just had to be a banana. I realised recently, of course, that there are other things that are arc shaped. But it was an image that just spoke so strongly to me. Also, Andy Warhol designed an iconic album cover featuring a banana for The Velvet Underground, my favourite record of all time. I think, just as every artist has to make a neon sign, every artist has to make an artwork with a banana. Being a resident of Kemptown, I feel like a ripe banana is a good metaphor. A place for eccentricity, decadence and craziness.’

Your banana is already an iconic Brighton image for me. Alongside the pool is written: The Moment Has Arrived, The Banana Is Ripe. Why?
‘It’s important that everyone creates their own meaning. To be honest, I am always resistant to give specific meanings. Everyone’s reading is valid. I think it’s important that the statement is open for people to interpret. Meanings change over time, too, and context changes. But at this moment, I suppose I would say “the moment” is the arrival of Soho House in Brighton, that’s what it feels like right now. It may be something different in the future. Right now, that’s what it means to me.’

I’ve shown sneak preview images to colleagues and members on my phone, and everyone who sees the pool smiles. There aren’t many artists that could illicit such a universally happy response. How does that feel? 
‘I don’t think it’s ever intentional. I never had a strategy to be accessible or make people smile, that’s just the way it seems to be. I don’t think as an artist you are in control of how work is received or even entirely what you make – it’s part of your world view and an extension of your personality. I know some people in the art world frown upon art being amusing or funny, but it’s not like I had a strategy to do that or a goal to disrupt what’s perceived as “high” art. As for people smiling when they see photos, I guess the virtue of what I do is that it can be received as an idea and a statement; it doesn’t necessarily rely on being seen in the flesh. I think that’s a good thing.’

I agree with you that there is a snobbishness about humour in art and maybe even a general misunderstanding about the seriousness of humour. I think it’s been sidelined for too long. Even Renaissance artists made jokes about the human condition in their paintings – I am thinking of Paolo Veronese’s supper scenes. Or, of course, the 18th-century artist and satirist, William Hogarth. But art history doesn’t really allow itself permission to focus on that.
‘I think there are no rules in art. It’s not like people who write about art academically are arbiters of what art means. They don’t even get to decide what good or bad is. We all know there are only two types of art: the stuff you like and the stuff you don’t.’

You relocated to Brighton from Glasgow in 2015 – what attracted you?
‘My sister used to live in Brighton in the 1990s and I really liked visiting. I developed a real affection for it. It was the one place I liked apart from Glasgow. The weather had a lot to do with moving; it’s a much more temperate climate. Although I love Glasgow, for some reason I didn’t want to stay forever. It’s important to realise you can give yourself permission to change everything and to not be beholden to a place. Despite the rain, I miss Glasgow a lot – our friends, the unique culture of west Scotland. But you have to change, change is good.’

I know you’re an advocate for the Brighton art scene, guest-directing the Brighton Festival in 2018. What makes it a good place for artists to be based?
‘Brighton is unique. People say it’s like the San Francisco of England. It’s a very inclusive place, accommodating of creative people and synonymous with being a great place to have fun. The proximity to London invites that sense of going away for a crazy weekend. But when you actually live there, it’s more laid back. 

‘I think it’s a good place to be an artist, but the art scene here is different to Glasgow, which is unusual for having such a high density of successful artists. That doesn’t exist anywhere else in the UK, apart from in London. It’s not that Brighton doesn’t have an art community as such, I guess it’s just that there are less what you might call museum-type artists. That said, there is a strong scene for graphic art – maybe for practical reasons, as graphic art lends itself to smaller spaces. It’s expensive to have a large studio here. Property prices are high and the city is small.’ 

People love studying art here, though maybe they don’t always stay on after. What are the things Brighton lacks for artists?
‘One of the things the city doesn’t have is a big public art space like Liverpool’s Tate or Gateshead’s Baltic. In a way, Brighton wouldn’t be considered to require one – it doesn’t need regeneration through culture, as the property prices are already high, and it has a huge amount going on – the live art scene, the Festival, and so on. When Margate got the Turner Contemporary, it really pulled focus, but Brighton already has that focus. That’s not to say I wouldn’t love a kunsthalle [which presents temporary exhibitions, but doesn’t have a permanent collection] here. Maybe that’s a project for me in the future. I’ll still be here. Brighton has a funkiness to it, for better or worse, which gives it real personality.’