David Shrigley’s line drawings take a darkly sardonic mirror to his everyday thoughts, decisions and problems, so that a typical refrain goes something like: ‘What does your future hold? Arthritis.’ Two decades of similarly tragicomic art – from his signature, scratchy loose-leaf drawings to surreal photos and even the occasional taxidermied object, such as a dog waving a placard that says, ‘I’m Dead’ – are about to go on display at the Hayward for Shrigley’s first museum survey, ‘Brain Activity’.
David Shrigley: Life and Life Drawing encompasses drawings, paintings, sculpture, animated videos, artist books, and a major new commission for NGV International’s Waterwall titled General Store. The artist’s omnipresent sense of humour lies at the heart of these works, which are manifest in tragicomic narratives that reflect on the banality and absurdity of everyday life and objects.
