FLUFF WAR: David Shrigley

In his seventh solo exhibition at Anton Kern Gallery, entitled FLUFF WAR, British artist David Shrigley presents a large-scale kinetic sculpture, two neon sculptures, and 100 new drawings.

 As visitors approach the gallery, they are greeted by a two-part magenta neon sign bearing contradictory instructions: one reads “WEAR SHOES” and the other “DO NOT WEAR SHOES”. The storefront window signage will seem perfectly at home to a passerby, as the gallery is located in New York’s famed Fifth Avenue shopping district. Here you are initiated into the world of David Shrigley.

 Inside, further into the space, is another neon sign announcing that you have entered the arena of “FLUFF WAR”, the exhibition’s eponymous work. The structure of FLUFF WAR is a ten foot by ten foot square enclosure akin to a miniature soccer stadium or a giant air hockey table. Trapped inside are clusters of black wooly fluff being blown about a smooth white floor by gusts of wind coming in through surrounding vents.

 War is a cheeky misnomer for what the fluff is engaged in. Incapable of exerting its own will, the fluff is at the whim of hidden fans, randomly sequenced by a computer program, blowing at varying intervals and strengths. It remains unclear which fluff is winning or losing, what the objective is, or if there is one at all. Regardless, one can easily become an enraptured observer of this nonsensical activity.

 David’s new drawings continue in his tradition of combining image and text to deliver comically deadpan messages that resonate on philosophical, ethical, and political levels. The large color works rendered in acrylic and oil bar read immediately like signs or advertisements, while the small black ink drawings are graphically complex, and invite the viewer to inspect closely. The benign declarations and mischievous wishes in Shrigley’s works express the pathos, tedium, irony, and oftentimes ridiculousness of everyday life.

 David Shrigley (b. 1968 in Macclesfield, UK) is a conceptual artist whose work takes an endless variation of forms, including: drawings, sculptures, animations, photographs, prints, books, and many things in-between. He studied at the Glasgow School of Art from 1988 – 1991 and currently lives and works in Brighton, UK.

 David’s work was recently the subject of a major survey exhibition LOSE YOUR MIND, supported by the British Council, which has traveled to the Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China (2018); Art Tower Mito, Japan; CoCA, Christchurch, New Zealand (both 2017); Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Quinta Normal, Santiago, Chile (2016); and Hospicio Cabañas, Guadalajara, Mexico (2015).

 In addition to institutional exhibitions, Shrigley has also participated in public art commissions, including the prestigious Fourth Plinth Commission in Trafalgar Square, London. His latest commission is MEMORIAL II, a 17 foot tall granite gravestone inscribed with the artist’s personal shopping list, is on view now in the Fields Sculpture Park at Art OMI, Ghent, New York through 2020. Art OMI will present a coinciding sculpture exhibition by David, TO BE OF USE, at the gallery within the park from May 25 – July 21, 2019.