This weekend, Galleri Nicolai Wallner in Copenhagen will be introducing Exhibition of Giant Inflatable Swan-things and Other Things by David Shrigley. This latest exhibition is a followup to his presentation at the Sprit Museum in Stockholm back in Oct 2018. Comprising of exactly what the title suggests, the showcase will include seven giant, inflatable Swan-things sculptures, measuring over 3 meters each, along with "other things," aka series of large drawings.
The main installation is made up of sculptures that inflate and deflate on a twelve-minute loop, creating a kinetic art piece that fuels the atmosphere running throughout the exhibition. The swan-things are a humorous take on the elegant and iconic bird, while their behavior is further parodying the bird's general reputation and known image.
Matching the mood, the drawings are "combining text and imagery to reveal the banalities and surprises of human behavior and the ups and downs of everyday life." Displayed inside a grid of colorful images, they are once again showing Shrigley’s ability to point out life's dullest moments and bring out the most simple, heartfelt, and quirky truths. Some of his works are simply playing with the beauty of the absurd with phrasing such as, “I drank two liters of cola and now I feel fucking great,” or “Horses should not be ridden,” while others have an almost philosophical lean to them, stating things such as “I was in a cage and now that I am free, I do not know what to do,” or “Life can only be understood backward but it must be lived forward.––Sasha Bogojev
"Exhibition of Giant Inflatable Swan-things and Other Things" will be showing at Galleri Nicolai Wallner in Copenhagen from May 3 to June 22, 2019.