David Shrigley: Brain Activity

David Shrigley is best known for his humorous drawings that make witty, wry and sometimes dark observations on everyday life. His deliberately crude graphic style has an immediate and accessible appeal, while simultaneously offering insightful commentary on the absurdities of human relationships.

Brain Activity is Shrigley’s first major survey exhibition in the UK and covers the full range of his work, extending beyond his drawings to include photography, taxidermy, sculpture, animation, painting, and music. In addition, Shrigley presents a number of new works created especially for Hayward Gallery, all of which are characterised by their varied use of humour and his abiding impulse to ‘communicate as simply and directly as possible’.

Shrigley’s work is animated by dark, deadpan humour and a sideways look at the human condition. Death, the most serious, sad and sometimes feared subject also receives the artist’s lightness of touch. Taxidermy animals appear to spring to life, while other works suggest the end is near.

Shrigley says ‘The big themes are the ones that interest me, and the ones that have the potential to be the most comic.’

Shrigley’s art can evoke disquietude and unease as well as hilarity. It takes special delight in the dismal realities of life – teeth riddled with decay, thwarted promises of urban renewal, and other human failings. Deciding whether or not to laugh at these darkly humorous artworks often presents something of a dilemma, which Shrigley refers to as a ‘moral conundrum’.

Shrigley’s cast of characters includes freaks, lowlifes, misfits, socially awkward people and mysterious creatures. ‘Almost all of my characters are interchangeable,’ he says. ‘They could be me, they could be you, they could be anybody.’

Some are immediately recognizable as stereotypes, while others are conjured up from the artist’s imagination, ranging from talking vegetables to happy-faced teeth. The awkward encounters faced by his characters are immediately recognisable, drawn from common interpersonal relationships and social mores.

Closely related to his drawings and photographs, Shrigley’s sculptures are cartoon-like creations that often include exaggerations of scale or function. These works also involve a variety of crafting techniques such as moulding, casting and welding. However, the finished objects look as if they have been produced by an amateur. Shrigley intends this imperfect aesthetic to give his objects a sense of personality, albeit an eccentric one.

British artist David Shrigley is best known for his humorous drawings that make witty and wry observations on everyday life.

Trained as a fine artist, his deliberately crude graphic style gives his work an immediate and accessible appeal, while simultaneously offering insightful commentary on the absurdities of human relationships.

This exhibition, his first major survey show in London, covers the full range of Shrigley's diverse practice. This extends far beyond drawing to include photography, sculpture, animation, painting and surprising interventions.

Spanning the upper galleries of Hayward Gallery, the show also includes new artwork and pieces created specifically for the space.

The exhibition is curated by Dr Cliff Lauson, Curator, Hayward Gallery.

Biography

1968 Born in Macclesfield, England.

1970 Family moves to Oadby, Leicestershire.

1972 Develops keen interest in dinosaurs.

1982 Visits Tate Gallery for the first time, to see an exhibition of work by sculptor Jean Tinguely.

1987-88 Art and Design Foundation Course at Leicester Polytechnic.

1988 Moves to Glasgow to study in the department of Environmental Art at Glasgow School of Art.

1991 Awarded Honours Degree (2:2). Self-publishes first book: Slug Trails.

1991-95 Works part-time in community art education for Glasgow City Council.

1992-96 Takes up post as a gallery guide at Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA), Glasgow.

1992 Participates in first group exhibition, In Here, at Transmission Gallery, Glasgow.

1995 Appears as an extra in the movie Trainspotting. First solo exhibition, Map of the Sewer, held at Transmission Gallery, Glasgow.

1996 First book on sale that is not self-published: Err (Bookworks, 1996). First drawings are sold, priced £50 each.

1998 Publishes first of many books with Redstone Press: Why We Got the Sack from the Museum.

1999-2000 Weekly cartoon runs in The Independent on Sunday.

2003 Collaborates with artist collective Shynola on pop promo Good Song for the band Blur.

2005 Makes a film short for Channel 4 based on his book Who I Am And What I Want (with Chris Shepherd). Takes up yoga.

2005-2009 Weekly cartoon runs in The Guardian newspaper.

2006 Worried Noodles (The Empty Sleeve), an empty record sleeve with a book of faux lyrics, is published by German record label Tomlab.

2007 Worried Noodles CD is published, with tracks by 39 musicians, using lyrics from the original publication (see above). Designs record cover for Deerhoof’s album Friend Opportunity.

2009-2011 Fortnightly political cartoon runs in New Statesman magazine.

2010 Begins work on Pass The Spoon (a sort-of opera) with David Fennessy and Nicholas Bone.

2011 World première of Pass The Spoon at Tramway, Glasgow.

David Shrigley
Brain Activity
Kurator: Cliff Lauson