David Shrigley Unveils his new Commission for the Fourth Plinth titled “Really Good”
David Shrigley the Turner Prize nominated artist unveils his new commission for the Fourth Plinth titled, “Really Good” on Thursday 29 September 2016. The work was commissioned by the Mayor of London as part of the Fourth Plinth Programme, Really Good is the eleventh sculpture to stand on Trafalgar Square’s celebrated plinth, and will be the first major public art commission to be unveiled under the auspices of the new Mayor for London Sadiq Khan.
Really Good sees a ten-metre-high hand giving a thumbs up. Cast in bronze, with the same dark patina as the other statues in Trafalgar Square, the thumb is disproportionately long. Shrigley’s ambition is that this simple gesture will become a self-fulfilling prophecy; that things considered ‘bad’ such as the economy, the weather and society, will benefit from a change of consensus towards positivity.
The Fourth Plinth Programme is the smallest but most prominent sculpture park in the world. Funded by the Mayor of London with support from Arts Council England, the programme invites world-class artists to make astonishing new works for the centre of the capital city. An established icon for London, it brings out the art critic in everyone. Really Good will be the 11th sculpture to inhabit the Fourth Plinth.
Born in 1968 in Macclesfield, David Shrigley lives and works in Brighton. His work draws on the British tradition of satire, creating drawings, animations and sculptures that reflect the absurdity of contemporary society. He has had recent solo exhibitions at Auckland Arts Festival, New Zealand (2015); National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2014-15); Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (2014); Bradford 1 Gallery (2013); Cornerhouse Gallery (2012), Hayward Gallery, London (2012); Yerba Beuna Centre for the Arts, San Francisco (2012); and Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow (2010). Shrigley’s Pass the Spoon was performed at Tramway, Glasgow, and Southbank Centre, London (2011-12), and he was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2013.
