David Shrigley exhibition is coming to South London next year, and it's not an ordinary one
Old gags versus new ones
Artist and humourist David Shrigley is holding a major exhibition in South London next year, and it’s one with a high-concept pitch.
The Dulwich Picture Gallery show, called simply David Shrigley, will see the UK artist’s works placed alongside Dutch and Flemish paintings from old masters — pieces hundreds of years old — but the aim is not just to take the piss out of old paintings in Shrigley’s signature style.
Instead Shrigley will reference the comedy that was already in those old pieces, but that the viewer does’t always appreciate when viewing them in a gallery all these years later.
That's our take anyway. Here's what the gallery says:
“Shrigley – like our historic painters – has an instinct for finding the funny side of everyday life. He is the perfect artist to bring back playfulness to the old masters, and remind us that great art doesn’t always need to be serious,” says Helen Hillyard, head of exhibitions at the Dulwich Picture Gallery.
We’re yet to see what this will look like, though. The exhibitions preview only features the old paintings at present, not any of Shrigley’s reactions to them.
“Through a series of specially commissioned works, Shrigley enters into conversation with artists including Jan Steen, David Teniers the Younger, Rembrandt, Adriaen Brouwer and Pieter Brueghel the Younger, revealing how humour has been used across centuries to explore everyday life, human behaviour and social interaction,” reads the exhibition’s description.
Fans won’t need telling, but Shrigley’s work looks nothing like traditional painting, with a deliberately crude and basic style where the subject is often accompanied by a funny (in context) phrase.
This will be Shrigley’s first major UK exhibition in 15 years by the time it opens, the last being at the Hayward gallery back in 2012.
The David Shrigley exhibition opens on 25th May, 2027, and runs until 5th September. Tickets aren’t available to book just yet, but you can guarantee access by buying a Dulwich Picture Gallery Friend membership. These start at £46 a year, by direct debit, or £74 a year for one that lets you take a friend too.
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