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Signs: David Shrigley

Past exhibition
January 10 - February 16, 2013
  • Overview
  • Installation Views
  • Works
  • Press
Overview
David Shrigley Backwards Burgers, 2013 Neon light 26 x 27 1/2 x 2 inches 26 x 27 1/2 x 2 inches (66 x 69.9 x 5.1 cm)
David Shrigley
Backwards Burgers, 2013
Neon light
26 x 27 1/2 x 2 inches
26 x 27 1/2 x 2 inches
(66 x 69.9 x 5.1 cm)

December 18—In this fifth solo exhibition at Anton Kern Gallery, entitled Signs, Glasgow-based artist David Shrigley surrounds a large black gong sculpture positioned in the center of the gallery with a variety of signs, such as flags, scrolls and banners, neon and cast bronze texts, as well as lino-cut and letterset texts and poems. As the sound of a gong usually signals a special moment (e.g. waking, eating, starting a movie, or ending a yoga session), Shrigley’s sculptural rendering of the percussion instrument sets the tone for the artist’s insightful exploration of semiotics, the study of signs and the relation between signs and the things to which they refer.

 

To his word strategies, Shrigley adds a key ingredient, the concept of the sign and its origin in agreement or convention (such as full stop signifying the end of a sentence). For a sign to have any effect it must be based on common attitudes. Making signs, as opposed to hand-drawn works on paper, enables Shrigley to expand his techniques, e.g. the recognition of unexpected shifts in viewpoints, or the collision of different frames of reference, into a wider, more public range. He turns the sign inside out as if reverting it to an earlier state of innocence where conventions were not yet fully formed. A neon sign reading “Hot Dog Repair” not only combines disparate terms (the ephemeral with the permanent) in a surprising way but also presents itself in the authoritative shape of a shop sign and thereby turning the agreed-upon convention of what is a reasonable and generally accepted service topsy-turvy.

 

Similarly, Shrigley’s lino-cut, letterset poems and texts, reminiscent of word-related art ranging from Concrete Poetry to Christopher Wool’s paintings, present characteristic Shrigleyesque thoughts however much less individualized (no handwriting) but rather subversively conventionalized (cut out and printed letters). Stepping away from the markedly handmade towards the more indirect and mechanized process of sign-making lifts the works in this exhibition onto a new level of humor as semiotic critique. Shrigley’s signs commandingly undermine their own presumed authority. A sense of liberation prevails!

Download Press Release
List of Works
Installation Views
  • Installation view of David Shrigley's fifth solo show at Anton Kern Gallery, featuring signs.
  • Installation view of David Shrigley's fifth solo show at Anton Kern Gallery, featuring signs. A few works present.
  • Installation view of David Shrigley's fifth solo show at Anton Kern Gallery, featuring signs. A few of David's signs.
  • Installation view of David Shrigley's fifth solo show at Anton Kern Gallery, featuring signs. Some additional works.
  • Installation view of David Shrigley's fifth solo show at Anton Kern Gallery, featuring signs. Some of David's signs.
  • Installation view of David Shrigley's fifth solo show at Anton Kern Gallery, featuring signs. Featuring the back room signs.
  • Installation view of David Shrigley's fifth solo show at Anton Kern Gallery, featuring signs. Another image of the back room.
  • Installation view of David Shrigley's fifth solo show at Anton Kern Gallery, featuring signs. A mirror, a street light, and a dog.
Works
  • David Shrigley Help Me, 2013
    David Shrigley
    Help Me, 2013
  • David Shrigley They Like My Hand Writing But I Don't, 2012
    David Shrigley
    They Like My Hand Writing But I Don't, 2012
  • David Shrigley Sleep Sleep Please Go to Sleep, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Sleep Sleep Please Go to Sleep, 2012
  • David Shrigley ABCD..., 2012
    David Shrigley
    ABCD..., 2012
  • David Shrigley Fuck Off Back to the Library, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Fuck Off Back to the Library, 2012
  • David Shrigley Don't Eat What You Can't Digest, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Don't Eat What You Can't Digest, 2012
  • David Shrigley Free Hot Dogs for All Citizens, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Free Hot Dogs for All Citizens, 2012
  • David Shrigley Shit Shit Shit and More Shit, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Shit Shit Shit and More Shit, 2012
  • David Shrigley Who Sprayed Words on the Tomb?, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Who Sprayed Words on the Tomb?, 2012
  • David Shrigley Sadly No More Fish in the Sea, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Sadly No More Fish in the Sea, 2012
  • David Shrigley Mashed Potatoes for Brains, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Mashed Potatoes for Brains, 2012
  • David Shrigley News: New Things Found Yesterday, 2012
    David Shrigley
    News: New Things Found Yesterday, 2012
  • David Shrigley Fucking Difficult to Write Poems, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Fucking Difficult to Write Poems, 2012
  • David Shrigley Asses Rats' Asses Asses of Rats, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Asses Rats' Asses Asses of Rats, 2012
  • David Shrigley Gong, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Gong, 2012
  • David Shrigley Rats/Mice, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Rats/Mice, 2012
  • David Shrigley Nonagon, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Nonagon, 2012
  • David Shrigley Boot, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Boot, 2012
  • David Shrigley I Found a Shoe, 2012
    David Shrigley
    I Found a Shoe, 2012
  • David Shrigley Eat Fungi, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Eat Fungi, 2012
  • David Shrigley It's a Dream, 2012
    David Shrigley
    It's a Dream, 2012
  • David Shrigley Small Flag, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Small Flag, 2012
  • David Shrigley Small Flag, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Small Flag, 2012
  • David Shrigley Words (1), 2012
    David Shrigley
    Words (1), 2012
  • David Shrigley Cat (Kiss My Ass), 2012
    David Shrigley
    Cat (Kiss My Ass), 2012
  • David Shrigley Cat (Kill Your Pets), 2012
    David Shrigley
    Cat (Kill Your Pets), 2012
  • David Shrigley Cat (Don't Look at Me), 2012
    David Shrigley
    Cat (Don't Look at Me), 2012
  • David Shrigley Cat (Enjoy Your Hell), 2012
    David Shrigley
    Cat (Enjoy Your Hell), 2012
  • David Shrigley Cat (It's OK, It's Not OK), 2012
    David Shrigley
    Cat (It's OK, It's Not OK), 2012
  • David Shrigley Clocks, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Clocks, 2012
  • David Shrigley Ornaments, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Ornaments, 2012
  • David Shrigley Words (2), 2012
    David Shrigley
    Words (2), 2012
  • David Shrigley Backwards Burgers, 2013
    David Shrigley
    Backwards Burgers, 2013
  • David Shrigley Hot Dog Repair, 2013
    David Shrigley
    Hot Dog Repair, 2013
  • David Shrigley Hole with Traffic Lights, 2013
    David Shrigley
    Hole with Traffic Lights, 2013
  • David Shrigley Other Side, 2013
    David Shrigley
    Other Side, 2013
  • David Shrigley Tomorrow Is Cancelled, 2012
    David Shrigley
    Tomorrow Is Cancelled, 2012
Press
  • David Shrigley's Signs of Life

    Nana Asfour, The New Yorker, January 18, 2013

Related artist

  • David Shrigley

    David Shrigley

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