David Shrigley

Provenance:  Private collection

David Shrigley was born in Macclesfield and studied environmental art at Glasgow School of Art. After graduating he began publishing books of quirky, doodle-like drawings. As well as drawing incessantly, he photographs, makes sculptures and performs ‘public interventions’ which he then photographs for display. Words play an important role across Shrigley’s work. He is interested in how we interpret text and image together, especially when they are combined in witty or conflicting ways. Many of his works satirize the conventions of the contemporary art world. Shrigley consciously shuns the knowingness and commercial professionalism of much contemporary art, preferring a dysfunctional language of doodles, vandalism and graffiti. His work is infused with a dark, dry humour which highlights the absurdity of our everyday fears and aspirations.

Recent exhibitions include those at GoMA, Glasgow (2015-2016) and Yvon Lambert Paris (2011). In 2012, London’s Hayward Gallery hosted Brain Activity, a retrospective of Shrigley’s work for which he was shortlisted for the 2013 Turner Prize. Shrigley lives and works in Glasgow.