Nicolai Wallner

David Shrigley

05 May - 17 Jun 2006

DAVID SHRIGLEY
"Fish, frogs, men"

It is a great pleasure for Galleri Nicolai Wallner to present "Fish, frogs, men", an exhibition with etchings, woodcuts and silkscreen by David Shrigley. The exhibition includes four series and one single print by David Shrigley published by Galleri Nicolai Wallner during the last 6 years. Shrigley's new animation "Who I am and what I want" will also be screened during the exhibition. The animation has recently won awards at several prestigious venues including Rotterdam Film Festival.
David Shrigley works with drawing, animation, photography and sculpture. His work is marked by a bleak humour that below the surface reveals thoughtful truths about the human condition.
The works - at times seemingly frustrated or bordering the absurd - comment either Shrigley's own life or our world in general. Social indignation plays no small part in the creation of the works or in the way that the artist sees his role within society.
The etchings and woodcuts are done in a way that at first glance looks casual or even awkward. However the marked lines and expressive arrangement of forms point to a very conscious way of working within certain aesthetic boundaries. The works are created from a process of reduction - the end result comparable to that of a sign in its lack of anything superfluous. It communicates its meaning through the simplest of means - all the more effective due to the immediate way it is read.
For the new series Shrigley has utilised different techniques including woodcut, silkscreen, etching, aquatint, and differently sized printing plates. Each of the techniques adds an own peculiar mood and texture to the works. The woodcuts are harsh in their direct imagery. The etchings focus on detail and narrative.
David Shrigley has shown extensively at galleries and museums in Europe and America including solo shows at Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain (Geneva), UCLA Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), and Kunsthaus Zürich. The series of 22 woodcuts is in the permanent collection of MOMA New York and will be part of the exhibition "Eye on Europe: Prints, Books & Multiples, 1960 to Now" at opening in October 2006.
We are happy to welcome you in the gallery.
With kind regards,
Galleri Nicolai Wallner

© David Shrigley
Untitled (2005)
From a portfolio of 22 woodcuts
Woodcut on paper
Plate and paper size 60 x 39,5 cm
Printed at Schaefer Grafiske Værksted, Copenhagen
Edition of 20 (+ 5 AP)
 

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