David Shrigley

For this show, David Shrigley will present a broad range of new works including black and white text-based drawings, black and white photographs and a sculptural piece.

« For a while, David Shrigley thought of becoming a cartoonist after his studies at the Glasgow Scholl of Art from 1988 to 1991 but, after publishing his first books, he changed his mind, fortunatly without losing his sense of humour or giving up drawing. Humour is actually one of the main ingredients of his work, and drawing remains his most spontaneous means of expression. So when he intervened in the Sunday edition of The Independent in the year 2000, it was more as an invited artist than as a seasoned satirist. To this platform the artist brought an amateur’s singular view on the world. The caricaturist, on the other hand, acts as a journalist and often as an editorialist. He is answerable to the current affairs of the world where the artist is answerable to nothing but his own current interest.

David Shrigley divesifies his production. An acerbic chronicler of modern life, he primarly fills this role in his drawings, in which, between false confessions, true observationss, and obsessive questionnaires, he especially unleases his black humour. His photograph, which are accompanied by text in most cases are produced more sparingly and reveal another side of this artist’s spirit, which is not lacking in facets : less intimate, more distant perhaps, more generally disposed to looking at public space. His sculptures never attain huge dimensions and therefore present themselves as transformed everyday objects submitted to a cartoonlike treatment. His books constitute the compilation of his thoughts and his exploits as an amateur drawer. Four means of expression or supports answer and rely on each other and allow the artist to indefinitely expand the scope of his observations and preoccupations. »

Text in David Shrigley, a Vandal and a Moralist or The Ten Fingers of Your Left Hand, by Frederic Paul, David Shrigley, catalogue published by the Center of Contemporary Art on the occasion of the solo exhibition of David Shrigley, from June 22 to September 8, 2002, Domaine de Kerguehennec, Center of Contemporary Art, F - 56500 Bignan, T +33 2 97 60 44 44, wwww.art-kerguehennec.com Translated by Elizabeth Jian-Xing Too

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David Shrigley