David Shrigley Prints: The Artist Who Makes Anxiety Look Good on a Wall
What Is David Shrigley Known For?
The Short Answer
David Shrigley is a British artist known for darkly comic drawings, prints, and sculptures that use childlike mark-making to deliver surprisingly sharp observations about modern life, anxiety, and the absurdity of existence. His work is immediately recognizable, widely collected, and — crucially — genuinely funny. Not gallery-funny. Actually funny.
Who Is David Shrigley and Why Does Everyone Seem to Own One of His Prints?
Born in Macclesfield in 1968 and trained at the Glasgow School of Art, David Shrigley emerged in the 1990s as part of a generation of British artists who were quietly dismantling the idea that contemporary art had to be either impenetrable or pompous. He chose a different path: wonky handwriting, stick figures with existential crises, and captions that read like thoughts you'd have at 3am and immediately regret.
What makes Shrigley remarkable isn't the rawness of the line — it's the precision underneath it. Every misspelling that stays, every figure that lists slightly to the left, is a deliberate choice. The aesthetic of accidental genius is, in fact, extremely considered. Glasgow will do that to you.
His CV is not small. A Turner Prize nomination in 2013. A fourth plinth commission in Trafalgar Square — Really Good, the oversized thumbs-up sculpture that divided opinion in the best possible way. Work in the permanent collections of MoMA, Tate, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Collaborations with Latex Generation, Wasted Rita, and a ongoing relationship with the art world that somehow never made him boring.
And yet his prints still end up above someone's kitchen table in Greenpoint. Or a study in Notting Hill. Or a reading nook in Copenhagen. That reach — from institution to living room — is the thing that separates Shrigley from artists who are merely critically respected.
[INTERNAL LINK: how to collect contemporary prints]
What Do David Shrigley Prints Actually Look Like — and How Do They Work in a Home?
The visual language is deceptively simple: black line, white ground, text that functions as both caption and subject. But spend time with a Shrigley print and you realize the composition is doing real work. There's a tension in his layouts — between the image and the words, between what's shown and what's implied — that keeps the eye moving and the brain slightly off-balance. That's not an accident. That's craft.
In a home, Shrigley prints occupy a peculiar and extremely useful position. They hold their own against serious art without demanding reverence. They introduce wit into a room that might otherwise take itself too seriously. They function as an icebreaker, a mood-setter, and a conversation piece simultaneously — and they look completely at home alongside a Matisse poster, a piece of folk pottery, or a very expensive lamp.
Jules: Do you think you can build a whole room around a Shrigley print?Avery: Absolutely. You just have to commit. The print says something — everything else in the room should be willing to listen.
The prints themselves are typically produced as screenprints on high-quality paper stocks, in limited editions that keep the work genuinely collectible without pricing out everyone who isn't a hedge fund manager. They are signed. They are numbered. And they tend to appreciate — both financially and emotionally.
The Two Shrigley Prints We Have Available Right Now
We currently have two works in stock, and both are worth your attention.
'Please Shut Up' (2022) is a 13-color screenprint with a varnish overlay on Somerset Satin Tub sized 410gsm paper — the kind of paper weight that makes you understand immediately why print quality matters. Edition 86 of 125, with 12 Artist's Proofs in existence. Signed and dated on verso. Published by Galleri Nicolai Wallner, one of Copenhagen's most respected contemporary art galleries and a longtime Shrigley collaborator. The sheet size is 29.5 x 22 inches. As a title, Please Shut Up is doing considerable heavy lifting — it's a sentence that belongs to everyone and no one, which is exactly how the best Shrigley works operate.
'Everything is Fine' (2023) runs to 15 colors, also with a varnish overlay on Somerset Satin, also 410gsm. Edition 65 of 125 — slightly earlier in the run, which matters to serious collectors. Signed and dated on verso. Published by Shrig Shop, Shrigley's own publishing imprint, which gives this one a particular directness: no intermediary, just the artist and the work. Sheet size 29.5 x 22 inches, framed size 25⅝ x 33⅝ inches. Everything is Fine is, of course, a title delivered entirely without sincerity — and the knowing wink in those three words is what makes the work so enduring.
Both prints share a technical sophistication that belies the apparent simplicity of the imagery. Multiple color layers in screenprinting require extraordinary registration precision; varnish overlays add depth and a surface quality that reproduction simply cannot capture. These are not posters. They are prints, in the full, serious sense of the word.
[INTERNAL LINK: how to frame and hang limited edition prints]
Is Investing in a David Shrigley Print Actually a Good Idea?
The honest answer is: it depends on what you mean by investment.
If you mean financially — yes, Shrigley's market is robust. His auction results have been consistently strong over the past decade, and limited edition prints from established publishers like Galleri Nicolai Wallner have a reliable secondary market. The combination of a fixed edition size, institutional validation, and broad cultural recognition makes Shrigley prints a relatively low-risk entry point into collectible contemporary art. Relatively is doing some work in that sentence, because no art purchase is without risk, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. But within the landscape of contemporary print collecting, Shrigley sits in good company.
If you mean emotionally — the calculation is easier. You will not tire of a Shrigley. The work has a quality that rewards repeat viewing in the way good literature does: you notice something different depending on the day you're having, the mood you're in, the particular flavor of low-level anxiety currently running in the background. That's rarer than it sounds.
[INTERNAL LINK: contemporary British artists worth collecting]
The two works we have available — Please Shut Up and Everything is Fine — represent Shrigley at a particular moment of confidence in his practice. The color counts are high, the paper quality is exceptional, and the titles carry that specific Shrigley electricity: the feeling that he has named something you'd been thinking but couldn't quite articulate.
That's the thing about David Shrigley. He says the quiet part loud, in wobbly letters, on very good paper. And somehow, every time, it lands.
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Are David Shrigley prints worth buying as an investment?
Shrigley's limited edition prints have a solid track record on the secondary market, supported by his institutional profile, Turner Prize nomination, and consistent demand from both new and experienced collectors. Works published by respected galleries like Galleri Nicolai Wallner tend to hold value well. That said, the best reason to buy any print is because you want to live with it.
What paper are David Shrigley screenprints printed on?
Many of Shrigley's most sought-after editions are produced on Somerset Satin Tub sized 410gsm paper. Somerset Satin is a fine art paper long favored by printmakers for its surface quality, archival stability, and the way it holds ink across multiple screenprinted color layers without distortion or bleed.
How do I know if a David Shrigley print is authentic?
Authentic Shrigley prints are signed and dated by the artist on the verso, numbered within their stated edition, and accompanied by documentation from the publishing gallery. Both works currently available through Jules & Avery meet all of these criteria. When in doubt, provenance documentation and publisher verification are your best tools.
What edition size are the David Shrigley prints at Jules & Avery?
Both available prints are from editions of 125, each accompanied by 12 Artist's Proofs. Lower edition numbers within a run are generally considered more desirable by collectors, though both works are well within the range that serious collectors seek.
How should I frame a David Shrigley print?
Shrigley's graphic clarity suits clean, minimal framing — a simple white or off-white mount, a thin profile frame in natural wood or matte black. Always request UV-protective glazing to preserve the screenprint inks over time.
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