Shrigley's humorous yet sarcastic works on view in Seoul

An installation view of the “David Shrigley: Lose Your Mind” exhibit at the Storage by Hyundai Card in Itaewon, Seoul / Courtesy of Hyundai Card

By Kwon Mee-yoo

A pink neon sign saying "EXIBITION" greets visitors to the "David Shrigley: Lose Your Mind" exhibit held at the Storage, matching the Storage's own pink neon sign. The Storage by Hyundai Card is a new visual arts venue in Itaewon, Seoul.

"It is a special version to mirror the sign of Storage. And it is spelled wrong because it's art. When you make art, you can do whatever you want," said British artist David Shrigley, the mastermind behind this funny and quirky exhibit.

Co-organized by Hyundai Card and the British Council, the exhibit introduces Shrigley, one of the most highly sought-after artists in the United Kingdom, for the first time in Korea.

Katrina Schwarz, curator of the British Council who organized this traveling exhibit, said the relation between the artist and the British Council extends far beyond this exhibition.

British artist David Shrigley poses in front of his work “I Am a Person” at the Storage by Hyundai Card in Itaewon, Seoul. / Courtesy of Hyundai Card

"The British Council has over 9,000 works by modern and contemporary British artists in its collection. It is the only national collection purposed to be shown outside the U.K. We collected David's work from some 20 years ago," Schwarz said.

The exhibit began in Guadalajara, Mexico, last November and then travelled to Chile, before arriving in Seoul.

"This is the third time we are presenting this exhibit and it has changed a little bit every time we present it," Shrigley said. In addition to the special edition of the neon piece created for the Storage exhibit, some of the works are site-specific or are re-arranged displays for Seoul.

A long sausage-shaped clay sculpture titled "Beginning, Middle and End" is re-created for each venue. "It is made from clay from Korea and by people from Korea. So it relates to his space. I think it fits for a touring exhibit," Shrigley said.

Other existing works such as “Boots” and “Insects ― Untitled” are also on display in a unique way for the Storage.

A bunch of white elliptical sculptures are titled “Eggs.” “It is a work about eggs. Egg is a good word. It is short and simple. Eggs are important because without them we don’t have birds,” Shrigley said. “Every time I talk about it I say different things. So if you come tomorrow, I’ll say something different.”

Though his remarks might sound silly, Shrigley is a formidable artist. He was nominated for the 2013 Turner Prize and recently revealed a large public art piece "Really Good" on the Fourth Plinth in London's Trafalgar Square last month. It is literally a big thumbs-up to the city and its people by the artist.

The exhibit continues downstairs, along with hundreds of drawings pasted on walls. These drawings ― funny, sardonic and subversive ― represent the Shrigley spirit in the most immediate way.

Visitors go past “Death Gate,” a steel gate adorned with the word “death.” “Unlike death itself, you can go through it and return,” Shrigley said.

A head-shaped robot holding a pen in its mouth moves around on a sheet of paper, creating a drawing. It is "The Artist," Shrigley's experiment on abstract art.

"I like abstract art, but I can't make it because it is not my style. So I created a robot to make abstract works. I can shift responsibility on it if I want to," he said.

“Spectre” was originally created for the Munich exhibit in 2014. It has a wooden plinth and drawings on the wall. There’s nothing on the plinth.

“There was a 2.5-meter-tall giant sculpture on the pedestal. I invited 300 people to make drawings of it and no one was allowed to photograph it. After making the drawings, I destroyed the sculpture and the only evidence of its existence are the drawings. Some are literal and objective, while some are crazy, art student rubbish,” he said. “Photography was invented in 1840 and I guess this piece is a reminder of what life was like before 1840.”

His work is cynical, ironic and comic, but the artist thinks in a different way. “I don't think it's meant to be cynical, might be meant to be ironic and definitely meant to be comic,” he said. “If you don’t understand my art, it’s okay. Anybody else does either.”

The exhibit runs through Jan. 8, 2017. Admission is 5,000 won for adults. For more information, visit storage.hyundaicard.com.