David Shrigley features some 120 works on paper in a variety of techniques and formats clearly illustrate the spectrum covered by his drawings. The exhibition 'B for Battle Scenes...' focuses less on the events depicted, that happened two hundred years ago in 2014, and more on the question of the changing function of this genre in 19th-century painting.
DAVID SHRIGLEY. DRAWING
Sammlung Moderne Kunst in the Pinakothek der Moderne
11.04.–10.08.2014
Curated by Bernhart Schwenk
The British artist David Shrigley (*1968 in Macclesfield / GB) came to international
fame through his cartoon-like, awkward-looking drawings. Since the 1990s his eye-
catching motifs have appeared in magazines, books and on the Internet, and been
positively received. Apart from drawings, Shrigley’s work includes sculptures,
installations and animation films as well as joint music and theatre projects. In 2013
David Shrigley was nominated for the Turner Prize. This year his design for the
Fourth Plinth on Trafalgar Square in London will be implemented. The artist lives
and works in Glasgow.
The exhibition at the Pinakothek der Moderne is David Shrigley’s first solo show in a
German museum.
Some 120 works on paper in a variety of techniques and formats clearly illustrate
the spectrum covered by his drawings. Many of the works exhibited have been
created especially for the occasion, including several in a large format (more than
two metres high).
An empty plinth stands at the centre of the conceptual, installation, Secret
Sculpture. The sculpture is being created at the moment in the artist’s studio. It will
be brought to Munich at the end of March and kept in a locked room in the
Pinakothek der Moderne for ten days before being destroyed. Up until then, the only
documentation of the Secret Sculpture will be in the form of drawings. Just 100
selected people – children and adults, amateurs and professionals, including
illustrators, a composite (‘photofit’) specialist and a courtroom artist – will be
allowed to see the Secret Sculpture and record it subjectively in drawings. Many
different aspects will converge in these works – the will to depict the sculpture
exactly, expressions of personal perception, technical skills, and free and perhaps
even subconscious associations.
Throughout the entire duration of the exhibition a Drawing Machine will be
continuously working on a huge, random drawing, throwing open to discussion
questions about authorship, inventiveness and unpredictable moments in the
drawing process.
For his Poster Project in 2006 Shrigley invited people he knew as well as strangers
to tell him about a personal event (the birth of a child, a wedding, a party, someone’s
death, etc.), for which the artist then created an independent drawing in the form of
a poster. He used the event and let it evolve a life of its own as a free composition.
Three short animation films illustrate what Shrigley calls the ‘economy of telling
stories’. With the minimum of information they tell a story full of humour and
absurdity and, through constant repetition, make an everyday activity seem both
foreign and almost abstract at the same time.Shrigley’s work is characterised by a radical limitation to essential pictorial
elements that are frequently combined with individual words or short sentences. His
drawings appear direct, unjaded and timeless through their almost innocent-
seeming casualness and, perhaps precisely for this reason, are touching in their own
special way. The artist also considers a simple and direct form of communication as
an important objective. His works’ plain appearance and ostensible harmlessness,
however, turns out to be ambiguous. Shrigley’s approach is reminiscent of that of
children who expose both the funny and the terrible with a ruthless honesty and
without prejudice. The artist focuses on the banalities and misunderstandings of our
everyday life with a disarming, refreshing and not seldom black humour. Supposed
(self-) certitudes find themselves suddenly on an unsure footing; the seemingly
great turns out to be ludicrously small; the meaningful an empty illusion.
Accompanying events
Analogous to Shrigley’s artworks and instead of classic guided tours, sound
performances (poetry, sounds, noises) will accompany visitors around the exhibition.
Shrigley’s drawings, installations and animation films interact with experimental
language and music in an unconventional way.
SUN 13.04., from 13.00 | Soundwalk with André Wittmann, percussionist
SUN 01.06., from 13.00 | Spoken Word Show with Bumillo and Alex Burkhardt
Further events: www.pinakothek.de/en/shrigley (from April onwards)
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B FOR BATTLE SCENES …
09.04.2014 - 08.09.2014
Neue Pinakothek
Within the genre of history painting battle scenes have a special place. They recall the heroic deeds of emperors and kings or mark turning points in the history of individual countries and whole continents. In the 19th century they gained the character of realistic reports to the glorification of heroes and events. In this respect, the two cycles of battle scenes by Wilhelm von Kobell in the collection of the Neue Pinakothek that, with a seeming effortlessness, outline changing alliances during the Napoleonic Wars against a common landscape setting, are exceptional.
The exhibition ‘B for Battle Scenes …’ in the Study Gallery (Room C) draws out one specific group of works for closer inspection from among the extensive holdings in the Neue Pinakothek’s collection, as with the previous presentation ‘M for Myths …’. The presentation focuses less on the events depicted, that happened two hundred years ago in 2014, and more on the question of the changing function of this genre in 19th-century painting. The selection of around 40 works is, therefore, not merely restricted to battle scenes but also traces the shift in motifs and the changing pictorial language with which art accompanied a thoroughly warring century.
References to catalogues raisonnés available in the Study Gallery help to provide a more in-depth insight into the collection in the Neue Pinakothek.
Image: David Shrigley, Untitled, 2014 © David Shrigley | Courtesy BQ, Berlin und Stephen Friedman Gallery, London
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presse@pinakothek.de
Tine Nehler, M.A.
Head of Press and Communication
Press conference: 09.04.2014, 11.00
Opening: 10.04.2014, 19.00
The artist David Shrigley will be present at the press conference and opening
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10 euros | reduced 7 euros
Sunday admission 1 euro
»Allianz Day«: free admission on every Wednesday
Neue Pinakothek
Barer Straße 29 - 80799 München
OPENING HOURS
Daily except TUE 10.00 a.m. - 6.00 p.m.
WED 10.00 a.m. - 8.00 p.m.
Opening hours on public holidays
Opened 2014:New Year (01.01.14), Twelfth Day (06.01.14), Good Friday (18.04.14), Easter Sunday (20.04.14), Easter Monday (21.04.14), Ascension Day (29.05.14), Whitsunday (08.06.14), Whitmonday (09.06.14), Feast of Corpus Christi (19.06.14), Assumption Day (15.08.14), National holiday (03.10.14), All Saint’s Day (01.11.14), 2. Christmas Day (26.12.14)
2015:New Year (01.01.15)
Closed 2014:Shrove Tuesday (04.03.14), May Day (01.05.14), Christmas Eve (24.12.14), 1. Christmas Day (25.12.14), New Year’s Eve (31.12.14)
2015: Twelfth Day (06.01.15), Shrove Tuesday (17.02.15)
ADMISSION
Permanent exhibition
7 euros | reduced 5 euros
Sunday admission 1 euro