About the Work
Untitled (You cannot help looking at this) showcases David Shrigley’s ability to create crudely drawn, minimalist compositions that are strangely thought-provoking and serious. By making a bold proclamation that forces the viewer to look at the image, whether they mean to or not, Shrigley forces us to consider the way that we view art without realizing that we are looking at it.
About the Artist
David Shrigley is an artist and illustrator best known for his mordantly humorous cartoons. Self-branded as an outsider in the art world, Shrigley’s flat compositions take on the inconsequential, the bizarre, and the disquieting elements of everyday life. Like the musings of a very wise child displaying the wit and humor of a seasoned observer of the adult world, his illustrations feature crossed-out words, scribbled, uneven lines, and darkly funny aphorisms about the world.
In recent years, Shrigley has expanded his practice to include filmmaking. He directed the video for indie-king Bonnie "Prince" Billy’s song Agnes, Queen of Sorrow, and co-directed an animated film with award-winning director Chris Shepherd based on Shrigley's book Who I Am and What I Want. A weekly contributor of cartoons to the Guardian Weekend magazine, he released his first spoken-word album Shrigley Forced to Speak With Others in 2006, which was followed by a double-CD of artists, including David Byrne, Islands, and Grizzly Bear, who put Shrigley’s book Worried Noodles to music.
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