Mary Gurley

Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Contemporary Art

First Advisor

Agnes Berecz

Second Advisor

Morgan Falconer

Abstract

This essay investigates the complexities of text-based art and contemporary conceptualism by focusing on David Shrigley’s work. By exploring the origins, evolution, and function of language-based practices, Take Shrigley’s Word for It emphasizes the artist’s use of text across various mediums, all of which occupy textual fields, blurring the line between commercial and fine art. Despite Shrigley’s extensive career, limited scholarship exists on his eccentric pairing of words and visuals, as well as his abundant spaces dedicated to sales. This paper also considers how Shrigley transformed the practice of text-based art by making it accessible and relatable to wide ranging audiences through his use of easily attainable mediums such as books and phone cases, his pricing strategies, and by his inclusion of culturally specific humor. Illustrated by an in-depth historical overview of text-based art, this study examines other influential artists from the 1960s to the present-day who have recontextualized words as their central medium. At study’s conclusion, one will just have to take Shrigley’s word for it.

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