david shrigley’s tongue-in-cheek neon works presented as a shopfront during frieze art fair
the british artist presents a new series of deadpan works with stephen friedman gallery.
stephen friedman gallery followed a different approach at this year’s frieze art fair, presenting the work of david shrigley in the form of a shopfront display. best known for his tongue-in-cheek, deadpan works, the british artist has created five new, large-scale neons that showcase his caustic sense of humor, accompanied by a major two-screen digital animation, a new sound-based installation and a new body of works on paper.
trivial news headlines – caustic sense of humour
image courtesy of stephen friedman gallery
rendered in his distinctive handwriting, the neons were installed in shop windows visible from outside of the stephen friedman gallery‘s booth, adding a playful vibrancy to the display. david shrigley has drawn from the format of neon street signs or advertisements, undermining their authority with his nonsensical messages. upon entering the booth, visitors encountered new works on paper, including the series of proclamatory headlines reminiscent of those traditionally displayed outside newsagents. during the opening day of frieze, these works were replaced on an hourly basis, keeping visitors up to date with the artist’s absurd ‘news’ of the day, whilst also giving a nod to the oversaturated nature of the media.
frosted neon writing, seen from inside the steven friedman gallery’s booth
image © designboom
image © designboom
a two-screen installation titled ‘endless joint’ was on display for the first time in the UK inside the booth, which captures a succession of characters caught in a perpetual cycle of smoking. on a separate room, a satirical, sound-based installation with shrigley’s vocal imitation of extractor fans and a series of mock extractor hoods demonstrated the artist’s uncanny ability to play with the mundane nature of banal objects and scenarios. inspired by the noisy judder of his foundry’s extractor fans, shrigley has recorded his own vocal imitation of the machines in four different octaves. the harmony is played on an endless loop.
image courtesy of stephen friedman gallery
‘endless joint’ (2017) is a major two-screen digital animation that captures characters caught in a perpetual cycle of smoking
image courtes of stephen friedman gallery
.. terribly busy. outward facing neons of shrigley’s slogans such as ‘distractions’ and ‘my artwork is terrible and I am a very bad person’ that are attention-seeking yet endearingly self-deprecating
image © designboom
rendered in his distinctive handwriting, the neons convey nonsensical messages that deliberately undermine their own authority as signs or advertisements
image courtesy of stephen friedman gallery
image © designboom
image courtesy of stephen friedman gallery
image © designboom
inside the gallery’s storage room: installation with shrigley’s vocal imitation of extractor fans and a series of mock extractor hoods
image © designboom
image © designboom
image © designboom
image © designboom
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