Tattoos, taxidermy and decapitation

Cartoonist David Shrigley on his retrospective at the Hayward Gallery
1/13
30 January 2013

Taxidermy, headless animals and death are among the themes of David Shrigley’s first major British retrospective, Brain Activity, at the Haywood Gallery.

Best known for his Guardian cartoons, his work is most often pared down drawings and animations, apparently crudely wrought and offering wry commentary on the absurdities of existence. He also designs tattoos and makes music videos - notably for Blur and Bonny Prince Billy.

Since graduating from the Glasgow School of Art in 1991, Shrigley has produced more than 7,000 individual pieces, so there was no lack of material from which to choose.

ES: Hi David. Thanks for speaking to us today. I hope it isn’t too painful.

DS: Nothing can be considered truly painful anymore, not once you've experienced an endoscopy.

ES: What's the appeal of penning abstract and bizarre tattoos?

DS: I don't like tattoos. I think they should be banned. I only do them because I'm polite and kind-hearted. Also, I suppose if a person is going to get some idiot to design them a horrible tattoo, then it might as well be me.

ES: What can we expect from this new exhibition?

DS: You can expect - in fact I personally guarantee - the following. Several animated films, 120 black and white drawings, 45 large paintings with text on paper, several pieces of taxidermy, some bronze sculptures, some ceramic sculptures, some other sculptures, some paintings on canvas and some other stuff.

ES: You must encounter people who say they don’t “get” your work. What do you say to them?

DS: I can't talk to everyone. I'm too busy.

ES: How do you work?

DS: I drink large quantities of green tea, I do some yoga, then I eat some porridge. Then I put on a record by The Fall and the ideas pour out of me like water from a jug. Then I go to bed.

ES: Do you ever face the dilemma of how far to take things when creating your art?

DS: I sometimes think that I should perhaps stop working and aimlessly surf the internet or go and watch TV for a few days. But then I chastise myself. No! I shall keep working until my brain catches fire, or until 10.30pm… whichever comes sooner.

ES: A lot of your illustration feels like it naturally lends itself to animation and sculpture. Which do you enjoy doing most and why?

DS: Clearly the things I enjoy most are watching television and aimlessly surfing the internet.

ES: Yes, but how about the animation?

DS: I make animated films because people used to ask me over and over again why I didn’t make animated films. So I started making them to shut those people up. I make sculpture to fill up the space in galleries. Drawings are too small to fill up large spaces.

David Shrigley: Brain Activity runs until May 13 at the Hayward Gallery in the Southbank Centre. For more information visit http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/ Shrigley’s book, What the Hell Are You Doing? is available now from Canongate.

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