David Shrigley

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

David Shrigley
Leicester Polytechnic
Glasgow School of Art
Known forDrawing, photography, painting, sculpture, animation, music
AwardsHonorary doctorate, De Montfort University; Turner Prize nominee
Websitewww.davidshrigley.com

David John Shrigley

OBE (born 17 September 1968)[1] is a British visual artist. He lived and worked in Glasgow, Scotland for 27 years before moving to Brighton, England in 2015.[2][3][4]
Shrigley first came to prominence in the 1990s for his distinct line drawings, which often deal with witty, surreal and darkly humorous subject matter and are rendered in a rough, almost childlike style. Alongside his illustration work, Shrigley is also a noted painter, sculptor, filmmaker and photographer, and has recorded spoken word albums of his writing and poetry.

Early life and education

Shrigley was born 17 September 1968 in

Leicester Polytechnic in 1987,[10][11] and then studied environmental art[7] at Glasgow School of Art from 1988 to 1991.[12][13] Talking about his final degree show, Shrigley later told The Guardian's Becky Barnicoat, "I thought my degree show was brilliant, but the people who were marking it didn't. I got a 2:2. They didn't appreciate my genius.[…] I didn't sell anything at the show – it was 1991, before the YBAs. There wasn't a precedent for people selling work that wasn't figurative painting".[14] Before becoming a full-time artist, Shrigley worked as a gallery guide at the CCA in Glasgow, where he would use the gallery's equipment to self-publish a series of books of his drawings.[15]

Work

'Really Good' at Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth

As well as authoring several books, he directed the video for Blur's "Good Song" and also for Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's "Agnes, Queen of Sorrow".[16][17] In 2005 he designed a London Underground leaflet cover. Since 2005, he has contributed a cartoon for The Guardian's Weekend magazine every Saturday.[18] Other projects have included the album Worried Noodles (Tom Lab, 2007) where musicians interpret his writings as lyrics, including collaborations by David Byrne, Hot Chip, and Franz Ferdinand.

Shrigley co-directed a short film with director

Kingsley" in George Square, Glasgow

In 2014, Jonathan Jones reviewed Shrigley's work Brass Tooth, writing, "David Shrigley must have had a big, toothy grin when he created multiple editions of his sculpture Brass Tooth, which goes on sale for £1,200 a pop at the London art fair this week. It is a cast of a single tooth – including the roots – and is typical of Shrigley's sly, subversive, humorous art in how it brings a modern art cliche crashing down to Earth".[21]

In 2015, he designed "

Partick Thistle as part of a sponsorship deal. The mascot's design was the object of some amusement, with Scottish BuzzFeed reporter Jamie Ross describing it as "based on every nightmare I had as a child."[22][23][24][25]

Shrigley also undertook a residency at Auckland's Two Rooms in 2015, during which he painted for the first time since his graduation from The Glasgow School of Art in 1991. He said that the residency presented ‘an opportunity to explore a different medium and explore what you can do with “that” versus what you do with “this”.'[26]

Shrigley's sculpture Really Good was installed on Trafalgar Square's

Fourth plinth between September 2016[27][28] and March 2018. He was granted £130,000 by the London mayor's office to make the work. Shrigley has said "I don't think I'll ever get to do anything that meant more to me".[29]

In 2019, he designed the yellow and red card of the AS Velasca.[30]

Shrigley was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to visual arts.[31]

In October 2024, Shrigley proposed expanding

STEM subjects to include the arts, in response to the significant decline in the number of arts students in England. He argued that the current focus on mathematics and sciences stifles children's creativity and suggested changing the acronym STEM to STEAM to better reflect the importance of the arts in a well-rounded education.[32] As part of his response to this issue, Shrigley installed a new work titled Mantis Muse at his former college in Oadby — a massive sculpture of a praying mantis.[32]

In November 2024, Birmingham City University responded to Shrigley’s call.[33] The university announced the development of the UK’s first Ofqual-recognised primary STEAM teaching qualification, created in collaboration with its arts, design, and media faculty. The new qualification equips primary school teachers with advanced skills in computer-aided design, 3D printing, and robotics while emphasizing design thinking and creative problem-solving.[33]

Exhibitions

Recent notable solo exhibitions include Do Not Touch the Worms, Copenhagen Contemporary, Denmark (2020); Exhibition of Inflatable Swan Things,

Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow International Festival of Visual Arts, Glasgow, Scotland (2010); New Powers, Kunsthalle Mainz, Germany (2009); David Shrigley, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany (2008); Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK (2008); Everything Must Have a Name, Malmö Konsthall, Malmo, Sweden (2007) and David Shrigley, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland (2006).[35]

Jason Mraz took the name of his album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. from a work by Shrigley.[36]

In January 2016, Shrigley's work was part of a British Council-organised international touring exhibition.[37][38] Previewing the touring David Shrigley: Lose Your Mind exhibition before it opened in Guadalajara, Mexico, BBC Arts said: "Best known for his crudely composed and mordantly humorous cartoons, David Shrigley is a highly popular British artist […] Featuring works as diverse as cartoonish ceramic boots, doodle-like drawings and a headless, stuffed ostrich, the exhibition highlights Shrigley's lively, irreverent imagination in full flow".[39] In the same month, he contributed to the Liverpool Provocations event in Liverpool's city centre.[40]

In 2020, Shrigley released a body of work entitled 'Lockdown Drawings'.[41] 340 pieces of art inspired by the UK's coronavirus lockdown in spring 2020 were displayed in the Stephen Friedman Gallery.[42]

In 2021, Shrigley staged a conceptual exhibition 'Mayfair Tennis Ball Exchange'.[43] where the gallery was filled with new tennis balls, participants were encouraged to exchange the balls for ones of their own.

A further conceptual exhibition 'Pulped Fiction' was announced in 2023.

Nineteen Eighty Four.[45]

Publications

  • This Is A Paper Trinket For You To Wear
  • How Are You Feeling
  • To Make Meringue You Must
  • Man in a Room
  • Do Not Bend
  • The Book of Shrigley
  • Ants Have Sex in Your Beer
  • Slug Trails
  • Merry Eczema
  • Blanket of Filth
  • Enquire Within
  • Let Not These Shadows Fall Upon Thee
  • Err
  • Drawings Done Whilst on the Phone To Idiot
  • Why We Got The Sack From The Museum
  • Centre Parting
  • Order of Service
  • To Make Meringue You Must Beat The Egg Whites Until They Look Like This
  • Blank Page And Other Pages
  • The Beast Is Near
  • Hard Work
  • Leotard
  • Joy
  • Yellow Bird With Worm
  • Human Achievement
  • Who I Am And What I Want
  • Let's Wrestle
  • Rules
  • Kill Your Pets
  • It Is It
  • Blocked Path
  • Photographs with Text
  • Worried Noodles – The Empty Sleeve
  • Hand
  • Red Book
  • What The Hell Are You Doing? The Essential David Shrigley
  • Fragments of Torn Up Drawings
  • Weak Messages Create Bad Situations

Music

In 2006, Shrigley's first spoken word album Shrigley Forced to Speak With Others was released by Azuli Records, under their Late Night Tales label.[46][47] In October 2007, Tomlab released Worried Noodles, a double CD of artists including David Byrne, Islands, Liars, Grizzly Bear, Mount Eerie, R. Stevie Moore and Final Fantasy putting Shrigley's 2005 book of the same name to music.[48] Moore went on to record an entire album of new songs set to Shrigley's Worried Noodles lyrics called Shrigley Field.[49]

Awards

Shrigley was nominated for the 2013 Turner Prize.[50] He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Leicester's De Montfort University at a ceremony on 17 July 2014.[51]

References

  1. ^ Shrigley, David. Oxford Reference. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  2. ^ Edwin Gilson, "Five minutes with... David Shrigley, Brighton Festival 2018 guest director". The Argus (Brighton), 16 February 2018. Accessed 28 February 2018.
  3. ^ "About the artist". British Council. Accessed 28 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Introducing… David Shrigley". Brighton Dome. Accessed 28 February 2018.
  5. ^ "David Shrigley".
  6. ^ Greer, Stuart (7 February 2014). "Thumbs up for Macclesfield artist".
  7. ^ a b Gatti, Tom (4 March 2009). "David Shrigley: the joker with a deadly punchline". The Times. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Alt URL[permanent dead link‍]
  8. ^ Ramaswamy, Chitra (12 April 2010). "Interview: David Shrigley, artist". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018. Alt URL[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ Kataria, Sonia (29 October 2024). "Renowned artist back to school with giant mantis". BBC News. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  10. ^ Fisher, Glenn (2005). "What's with all the Funny Stuff?". David Shrigley. Archived from the original on 26 April 2006.
  11. ^ "Interview with Bill Kenny, 2003". David Shrigley. 2003. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011.
  12. ^ "David Shrigley on his childhood, Adam and the Ants and Glasgow School of Art". 31 October 2014.
  13. ^ "Not Deadly Serious: Glasgow School of Art graduate David Shrigley's macabre humour has seen his show at London's Hayward Gallery shortlisted for the Turner Prize". 26 April 2013.
  14. ^ Barnicoat, Becky (23 June 2015). "Before they were famous: art stars on their final degree shows". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  15. ^ Miller, Phil (27 January 2012). "A man of the people" (PDF). Herland Scotland. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  16. ^ "Bonnie "Prince" Billy – Agnes, Queen of Sorrow, Drag City". www.dragcity.com. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  17. ^ "David Shrigley Animations". www.davidshrigley.com. Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  18. ^ "David Shrigley | Paddle8". Paddle8. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  19. ^ "Films : Who I Am and What I Want". animate!. 2005.
  20. ^ [1] Archived 24 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ Jones, Jonathan (15 January 2014). "Would you pay £1,200 for one of David Shrigley's teeth?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  22. ^ Ross, Jamie. "Twitter post". Twitter. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  23. ^ "Partick Thistle unveil 'terrifying' new mascot Kingsley". BBC News. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  24. ^ Grez, Matias (22 June 2015). "Partick Thistle's new mascot Kingsley: Scary or sun-like?". www.cnn.com. CNN. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  25. ^ Bull, JJ (22 June 2015). "Partick Thistle unveil utterly terrifying new mascot". Telegraph. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  26. ^ Brettkelly-Chalmers, Kate (2015). "David Shrigley in Conversation With Kate Brettkelly-Chalmers". Ocula Magazine.
  27. ^ Jones, Jonathan (29 September 2016). "Thumbs up to David Shrigley's fabulously feel-bad fourth plinth". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  28. ^ Pickford, James (15 January 2014). "Thumbs up for David Shrigley and Hans Haacke sculptures in London". Financial Times. London. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  29. ^ "Rachel Whiteread calls for end to Trafalgar Square fourth plinth sculptures". The Guardian. 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  30. ^ Velasca's objets utiles. Artists Velasca. asvelasca.it. 15 June 2020.
  31. ^ "No. 62866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 2019. p. N14.
  32. ^ a b Bakar, Lanre (28 October 2024). "David Shrigley urges schools to prioritise arts – with aid of giant mantis". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  33. ^ a b "Full Steam ahead for creativity in all subjects". The Guardian. 3 November 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  34. ^ "David Shrigley Info". David Shrigley (Artist's Website).
  35. ^ David Shrigley – Arms Fayre, 8 February 2012 – 10 March 2012. Stephen Friedman Gallery, London.
  36. ^ Blair, Tom (November 2008). San Diego Magazine. CurtCo/SDM LLC. p. 46.
  37. ^ Shea, Christopher D. (15 January 2016). "What's on This Week Around the World". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  38. ^ "David Shrigley: Lose Your Mind". British Council. 2015. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  39. ^ "David Shrigley's invitation to Lose Your Mind in Mexico". BBC Online. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  40. ^ Jones, Catherine (20 January 2016). "Liverpool 'Big Mouth' is reading city shoppers' thoughts". Liverpool Echo. Liverpool. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  41. ^ "David Shrigley: Lockdown Drawings". artlyst.
  42. ^ "David Shrigley". stephenfriedman.
  43. ^ "David Shrigley: Mayfair Tennis Ball Exchange".
  44. ^ "David Shrigley: Pulped Fiction".
  45. ^ Brown, Mark (26 October 2023). "David Shrigley turns 6,000 the da Vinci Code novels into Nineteen Eighty-Four". The Guardian.
  46. ^ "Shrigley Forced To Speak With Others – Shrigley Forced To Speak With Others". Discogs. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  47. ^ "LateNightTales: David Shrigely". latenighttales.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  48. ^ "New Cd From David Shrigley, Worried Noodles, 2007". www.davidshrigley.com. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  49. ^ "Shrigley Field". www.rsteviemoore.com. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  50. ^ "Turner prize 2013: who gets your vote? | Art and design | theguardian.com". theguardian.com. 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  51. ^ "Artist David Shrigley Honorary Doctor of Arts degree from De Montfort University". 22 July 2014.[permanent dead link‍]
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