Brighton Festival has announced that the 2018 guest director is the Brighton-based visual artist David Shrigley.

Best known for his distinctive drawing style and works that make satirical comments on the absurdity of 21st-century society, Shrigley’s darkly humorous compositions reflect the inconsequential, the bizarre, and the disquieting elements of daily life.

While drawing is at the centre of his practice, his work spans an extensive range of media including sculpture, large-scale installation, animation, painting, photography and music.

Widely admired by the art world and public alike, Shrigley was nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize in 2013 for his solo show David Shrigley: Brain Activity at the Hayward Gallery.

In September 2016, Really Good, a seven metre-high elongated bronze sculpture of a thumbs-up, was unveiled as the latest incumbent of Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth - described as the ‘tallest and most positive yet’.

Shrigley said: “The great thing about Brighton Festival is that you see things that are really thrilling and wonderful that you’ve never heard of before.

“What I’m looking forward to about the role of guest director is having the opportunity to not only see a lot of stuff and programme stuff but also make some artwork myself and have it presented in the place where I live.

“I think it’s a really nice way to communicate with people, to meet people and to invite people to come to Brighton.”

Brighton Festival 2018 will run from May 5th-27th and will feature new work from Shrigley alongside exclusives, world and UK premieres from a wide range of international, national and local artists and companies.

Andrew Comben, chief executive of Brighton Festival, said “Like Brighton Festival, David Shrigley’s work is for everyone.

“Both powerful and funny, his work manages to navigate ‘high’ and ‘low’ art and speak to an incredibly wide audience.

“Alongside his own artwork, he has also joined in championing the power of the arts to help health and wellbeing.

“We are thrilled that David is bringing his distinctive take to the Festival and the city he has now made his home. We look forward to a programme that we hope will entertain and inspire.”

Full programme details will be announced in February.

Image courtesy: Victor Frankowski