David Shrigley

I worked in The Nomads Tent in Edinburgh for a few years and one of my colleagues there brought in a book of postcards by David Shrigley that he’d just bought in The Fruitmarket Gallery. He found them quite amusing and thought I might, too.

I laughed so much it was embarassing.

Since then I’ve seen a lot of Shrigley’s stuff.

Shortly after I started my current job I came across one of his drawings in some Sunday supplement. I cut it out and stuck it next to my computer screen where it stayed for over a year. It showed two rabbits talking to each other. One was saying: “There is a place not far from here where rabbits live in peace and harmony with all other creatures”. The other rabbit replies: “That’s a complete load of shit and you know it.”

I like the absurd and there’s plenty of it in his work.

When I was in Glasgow a couple of weeks ago with the band we were killing time in Glasgow and ended up in the Gallery of Modern Art where Shrigley was one of the artists featured in their exhibition. Another piece in the exhibition was a swan formed from an old iron by another fantastically absurd Scottish artist and scul?tor; George Wylie.