Fully Coherent Plan

July 23, 2018
This latest collection of multimedia artist Shrigley’s thick-lined, scrawled drawings and cartoons is a beguiling combo of dark satire and scattershot observations, mixed with pure nonsense. Shrigley’s commitment to his laissez-faire visual aesthetic makes the oddball concoction work, resulting in a whole greater than the sum of its parts. There are scabrous references to the current polarized political climate. Under a headline “Solutions to Problems,” Shrigley advises: “Problems can be solved through discussion and through duels.” Another drawing depicts a man opening his mouth to receive a drop of water labeled “lies.” But these pointed provocations are interspersed with all kinds of random silliness, such as drawings of a man diving into a lake of beer, a blender full of bubbles, and a naked woman relaxing in a giant-size martini under the caption, “A Pleasing Situation.” Shrigley’s boldly simple, intentionally awkward black-and-white line art is immediately eye-catching and accessible. Entertaining and sneakily powerful, Shrigley’s work underscores the chaos and absurdity of contemporary times, suggesting that the line separating meaning from meaninglessness is thin.