David Shrigley
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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David Shrigley is a Glasgow-based artist. Born in Macclesfield on September 17, 1968, he grew up in Oadby, Leicestershire, England. He attended City of Leicester Polytechnic's Art and Design course in 1987-1988, and subsequently studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1988-1991.
Although he has worked with various media, most of his work is in the form of mordantly humorous cartoons released in softcover books or postcard packs. He exhibits much of his environmental art on his website.
Like the poet Ivor Cutler, Shrigley finds humour in flat depictions of the inconsequential, the unavailing and the bizarre - although he is far fonder of violent or otherwise disquieting subject matter. Shrigley's work has two of the characteristics often encountered in outsider art - an odd viewpoint, and (in some of his work) a deliberately limited technique. His freehand line is often weak, which jars with his frequent use of a ruler; his forms are often very crude; and annotations in his drawings are poorly executed and frequently contain crossings-out (In authentic outsider art, the artist has no choice but to produce work in his or her own way, even if that work is unconventional in content and inept in execution. In contrast, it is likely that Shrigley has chosen his style and range of subject matter for comic effect).
Shrigley is a graduate of the Environmental Art course at the Glasgow School of Art. As well as authoring several books, he directed the video for Blur's 'Good Song'. From 2005 he has contributed a cartoon for The Guardian's Weekend magazine every Saturday. He is represented in Paris by the Yvon Lambert Gallery, and in 2005 designed a London Underground leaflet cover.
David Shrigley co-directed an animate!-commissioned film with award-winning director Chris Shepherd called Who I Am And What I Want, based on Shrigley's book of the same title. Kevin Eldon voiced its main character, Pete. He also produced a series of drawings and t-shirt designs for the 2006 Triptych festival, a Scottish music festival lasting for three to four days in three cities. He has also designed twelve different covers for Deerhoof's 2007 record, Friend Opportunity.
In October 2007, Tomlab released Worried Noodles, a double-CD of artists including Liars, Grizzly Bear, Mount Eerie, and Final Fantasy putting Shrigley's 2005 book of the same name to music.
David Shrigley will publish a 'best of' collection titled What The Hell Are You Doing?: The Essential David Shrigley in September 2010.
Solo exhibitions
2006
- Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris
- DCA, Dundee
2005
- BQ Galerie, Cologne.
- Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen
- Anton Kern Gallery, New York
2004
- Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris
- Stephen Friedman, London
- Francesca Pia, Bern
2003
- Galerie Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen
- BQ Galerie, Cologne
- Kunsthaus, Zurich
2002
- Anton Kern Gallery, New York
- Domaine de Kerguehennec, France*
- Camden Arts Centre, London
- UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
2001
- Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris
- CCS Museum, Bard College, New York*
- Stephen Friedman Gallery, London
2000
- Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen
1999
- Francesca Pia, Bern
- Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris
- Stephen Friedman Gallery, London
1998
- Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen
- Bloom Gallery, Amsterdam
- Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris
1997
- Hermetic Gallery, Milwaukee
- CCA, Glasgow
- Francesca Pia, Bern
- Stephen Friedman Gallery, London
- Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen
- Photographers’ Gallery, London
1996
- Catalyst Arts, Belfast
1995
- Transmission Gallery, Glasgow
Contributions
2008 Life on Mars, the 2008 Carnegie International
