A Load of Old Rope with David Shrigley

Considering our latest issue, Routes, it feels especially apt that rope should feature in Selvedge stories this week. At Stephen Friedman Gallery, David Shrigley’s Exhibition of Old Rope draws together material histories of labour, trade and value, transforming the gallery into a dense, coiled landscape of reclaimed maritime rope.

David Shrigley, Exhibition of Old Rope, 2025.

Marking Shrigley’s ninth solo exhibition with the gallery, the show centres on a monumental ten-ton installation made entirely from discarded rope, alongside a large-scale, four-part neon work. Over months, Shrigley travelled across the UK in search of unwanted lengths destined for landfill. Much of the rope once lived working lives at sea: cruise ship mooring lines, marker buoys, crab and lobster pots. Other sections were salvaged from climbing schools, offshore wind farms, scaffolders and tree surgeons. Shorter lengths were gathered directly from shorelines, then carefully treated and cleaned—an essential process, particularly for rope reclaimed from the sea...

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Image Credits:

Lead: David Shrigley, Exhibition of Old Rope. Stephen Friedman Gallery.

All further images as credited in photo captions.