Stephen Friedman Gallery is pleased to announce a solo presentation of new and recent work by British artist David Shrigley at Frieze London 2018. The artist is best known for his satirical and deadpan works that explore the absurdities of everyday life.
Presented as a shopfront, the site-specific installation will feature four elements: a new series of large-scale neons, a major two-screen digital animation, a new sound-based installation and a new body of works on paper.
Shrigley's five new, large-scale neons showcase his caustic sense of humour. Rendered in his distinctive handwriting, the neons convey nonsensical messages that deliberately undermine their own authority as signs or advertisements. Installed in shop windows, the works will be visible from outside the booth and lend the presentation a playful vibrancy.
Shown in the UK for the first time, ‘Endless Joint' (2017) is a major two-screen digital animation. The work captures a succession of characters caught in a perpetual cycle of smoking. Hung back-to-back, the viewer will be able to walk around the individually-projected screens and view the animated figures in full profile.
New works on paper will feature a series of proclamatory headlines redolent of those traditionally displayed outside newsagents. Characteristically tongue-in-cheek, the works will be replaced on an hourly basis during the opening day of Frieze, 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.
A satirical, sound-based installation will also be on view. 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 will be played on an endless loop and accompanied by mock extractor hoods in a dedicated room. This piece demonstrates the artist's uncanny ability to play with the mundane nature of seemingly banal objects and scenarios.
