David Shrigley: a life in culture
Known for his quick-witted drawings and deadpan, hand-rendered texts, acclaimed British artist David Shrigley works across drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, photography, animation and print.
He was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2013, and in 2016 created a sculpture for the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square – a bronze hand giving a seven-metre-high thumbs up. He has had shows in museums worldwide, and his works can be found in New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Tate Britain.
In 2021, Shrigley founded Shrig Shop in Copenhagen with gallerist Nicolai Wallner; it serves as a place where he can experiment and develop ideas, and as an extension of his practice through the creation of limited editions, objects, posters and merchandise. In 2020, Shrigley was awarded an OBE for Services to Visual Arts. shrigshop.com
The first record I loved was Kings of the Wild Frontier by Adam and the Ants. I discovered Dirk Wears White Sox (the album that preceded it) afterwards, and it is perhaps better, but both records are wonderful pieces of punk pop. I think I was embarrassed about having liked them when I was into ‘cool’ music in the 1990s. But I felt that way about a lot of music from my childhood in the early 80s, and a lot of it still seems terrific now.
My all-time favourite piece of music is the tune the machine plays when it’s finished washing my clothes. It makes me happy.
I’m currently listening to Eggsistentialism by The Lovely Eggs. Go see them live.
The book that influenced me the most is Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. It was one of the first books I studied at school. It opened my eyes to the idea that a book can be more than the story it tells.
I’m currently reading Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen – a fantastic writer.
My favourite film is Prick Up Your Ears, Stephen Frears’s best. Alan Bennett’s best screenplay. Gary Oldman and Alfred Molina’s best performances (perhaps). It’s also one of few films set in Leicester, where I’m from.
The greatest television show of all time is The Muppet Show; obviously.
I’m currently watching Eric on Netflix. It’s good. And it has Muppets.
My favourite painting is anything Philip Guston painted in the 1970s.
My favourite gallery is Tate Modern. We need to understand how great it is to have that place. If you live in London, you are lucky (in that respect).
The best bar is the Hand in Hand. Cheers would be set here, if it was made in Brighton.
The best hotel room in the world is at the Premier Inn in Dalston. I stay there when I go to gigs at Cafe Oto and can’t face the late train back to Brighton. It feels decadent.
The best exhibition I’ve ever seen was ‘Jean Tinguely’ at Tate Britain in 1982. It was the first art exhibition I’d ever been to. It made me understand what art is.
I collect the tickets from all the football matches and gigs I go to. Now, I keep the PDFs in a folder on my computer. Yes, really.
The greatest meal I ever had was probably at Noma. I had ice cream made from walnuts there recently. It was pretty much perfection.
If I could bring back one trend it would be the hula hoop. I have stiff hips and would probably benefit greatly from it.
