Poster (Copenhagen Prints)
Poster from ‘David Shrigley Copenhagen Prints’ in collaboration with Schäfer Editions, Copenhagen.
The exhibition was held on 16th May – 1st June, 2024 at Jealous Gallery, 53 Curtain Road, London.
Critically acclaimed British artist David Shrigley is lifting the lid on his 25-year love affair with the historic art of printmaking, in a new exhibition of works created with Danish printmaker Michael Schäfer.
Copenhagen Prints features 24 monochrome prints created using a wide range of traditional printmaking methods, including etching, woodcut and lino printing. Each print in the exhibition showcases David’s characteristic blending of simple images, thought-provoking phrases and deadpan humour.
All prints were hand-made in Michael Schäfer’s Copenhagen studio, which David has worked from since 2002. Schäfer is one of the last remaining printmakers in Denmark to create everything by hand, using methods dating back centuries.
Alongside the prints, also on display will be some of the original plates and tools from Schäfer’s studio, offering an educational insight into printmaking techniques used throughout history.
David Shrigley said: “When I studied Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art in the late 1980s, the printmaking department was seen as something of a poor relative to the other departments.
“Secretly I considered the printmakers to be losers who weren’t good enough to be in the ‘cool’ departments. Printing was old-fashioned. Perhaps even boring. A side-project for serious elderly painters. In short, I wasn’t interested.
“My ill-informed prejudice subsided about a decade later when I made my first etchings in Copenhagen. I quickly learned that the mark of a pen or a brush on paper is an expression whereas the mark you make on a printing plate is a small, controlled act of violence.
“Printmaking is a medium that has been used for centuries. It is direct. It is vibrant. In a world of digital processes, it is as analogue as art can be.
The Danish capital has been a focal point for David’s artistic practice since the 1990s. In 2021, he and gallerist Nicolai Wallner founded Shrig Shop, a shop in the heart of Copenhagen’s Vesterbro district that serves as an extension of David’s practice through the production of posters and postcards, books and printed matter, limited edition prints, art objects and merchandise.
David has described Schäfer’s studio as an extension of his own, where he has been able to experiment with a range of traditional techniques, including woodcuts, lino prints, monotypes and stone lithographs.
Poster from ‘David Shrigley Copenhagen Prints’ in collaboration with Schäfer Editions, Copenhagen.
The exhibition was held on 16th May – 1st June, 2024 at Jealous Gallery, 53 Curtain Road, London.
Critically acclaimed British artist David Shrigley is lifting the lid on his 25-year love affair with the historic art of printmaking, in a new exhibition of works created with Danish printmaker Michael Schäfer.
Copenhagen Prints features 24 monochrome prints created using a wide range of traditional printmaking methods, including etching, woodcut and lino printing. Each print in the exhibition showcases David’s characteristic blending of simple images, thought-provoking phrases and deadpan humour.
All prints were hand-made in Michael Schäfer’s Copenhagen studio, which David has worked from since 2002. Schäfer is one of the last remaining printmakers in Denmark to create everything by hand, using methods dating back centuries.
Alongside the prints, also on display will be some of the original plates and tools from Schäfer’s studio, offering an educational insight into printmaking techniques used throughout history.
David Shrigley said: “When I studied Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art in the late 1980s, the printmaking department was seen as something of a poor relative to the other departments.
“Secretly I considered the printmakers to be losers who weren’t good enough to be in the ‘cool’ departments. Printing was old-fashioned. Perhaps even boring. A side-project for serious elderly painters. In short, I wasn’t interested.
“My ill-informed prejudice subsided about a decade later when I made my first etchings in Copenhagen. I quickly learned that the mark of a pen or a brush on paper is an expression whereas the mark you make on a printing plate is a small, controlled act of violence.
“Printmaking is a medium that has been used for centuries. It is direct. It is vibrant. In a world of digital processes, it is as analogue as art can be.
The Danish capital has been a focal point for David’s artistic practice since the 1990s. In 2021, he and gallerist Nicolai Wallner founded Shrig Shop, a shop in the heart of Copenhagen’s Vesterbro district that serves as an extension of David’s practice through the production of posters and postcards, books and printed matter, limited edition prints, art objects and merchandise.
David has described Schäfer’s studio as an extension of his own, where he has been able to experiment with a range of traditional techniques, including woodcuts, lino prints, monotypes and stone lithographs.
Poster from ‘David Shrigley Copenhagen Prints’ in collaboration with Schäfer Editions, Copenhagen.
The exhibition was held on 16th May – 1st June, 2024 at Jealous Gallery, 53 Curtain Road, London.
Critically acclaimed British artist David Shrigley is lifting the lid on his 25-year love affair with the historic art of printmaking, in a new exhibition of works created with Danish printmaker Michael Schäfer.
Copenhagen Prints features 24 monochrome prints created using a wide range of traditional printmaking methods, including etching, woodcut and lino printing. Each print in the exhibition showcases David’s characteristic blending of simple images, thought-provoking phrases and deadpan humour.
All prints were hand-made in Michael Schäfer’s Copenhagen studio, which David has worked from since 2002. Schäfer is one of the last remaining printmakers in Denmark to create everything by hand, using methods dating back centuries.
Alongside the prints, also on display will be some of the original plates and tools from Schäfer’s studio, offering an educational insight into printmaking techniques used throughout history.
David Shrigley said: “When I studied Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art in the late 1980s, the printmaking department was seen as something of a poor relative to the other departments.
“Secretly I considered the printmakers to be losers who weren’t good enough to be in the ‘cool’ departments. Printing was old-fashioned. Perhaps even boring. A side-project for serious elderly painters. In short, I wasn’t interested.
“My ill-informed prejudice subsided about a decade later when I made my first etchings in Copenhagen. I quickly learned that the mark of a pen or a brush on paper is an expression whereas the mark you make on a printing plate is a small, controlled act of violence.
“Printmaking is a medium that has been used for centuries. It is direct. It is vibrant. In a world of digital processes, it is as analogue as art can be.
The Danish capital has been a focal point for David’s artistic practice since the 1990s. In 2021, he and gallerist Nicolai Wallner founded Shrig Shop, a shop in the heart of Copenhagen’s Vesterbro district that serves as an extension of David’s practice through the production of posters and postcards, books and printed matter, limited edition prints, art objects and merchandise.
David has described Schäfer’s studio as an extension of his own, where he has been able to experiment with a range of traditional techniques, including woodcuts, lino prints, monotypes and stone lithographs.