Primary research visit

The exhibition was at the Hayward gallery at the Southbank centre, the artists exhibiting were David Shrigley and Jeremy Deller. Deller had the bottom floor gallery spaces and so his exhibition was the first we saw and Shrigley had the top floor galley spaces which meant that his exhibition was the second one we saw.

David Shrigley was trained as a fine artist in the department of Environmental Art at the Glasgow School of Art. He uses a very sketchy, basic style on purpose in his artwork. His work showcases witty and wry observations on everyday life. He uses a mixture of techniques including basic illustrations, paintings, animations, sculptures and mixed media pieces. I find Shrigley's work both humerous and witty.
Jeremy Deller studied Art History at the Courtauld Institute and at Sussex University where he did an MA. Deller uses a wide range of techniques in his work. In the exhibition, Deller explores humanity and his work is presented in interesting and sometimes very unusual ways including a 3D of bats flying in groups titled Exodus. Deller creates works with a wide range of collaborative groups.

My favourite piece of Shrigley's work is this piece:

I particularly like this piece because it is so simple yet it makes a point and in it's own way is rather humorous. It shows that a piece of artwork does not have to be complex in order to make a statement and have an effect on the audience of the piece. As Shrigley describes his work, this piece  "communicates as simply and directly as possible"
My favourite piece of Deller's work is this piece:

I particularly like the 3D film, "Exodus" as it was interesting, memorable and captivating for the audience of the piece. This was an unusual take on what is usually presented in an art and I think that Deller's approach to it was an effective one, the piece left people wondering what the meaning behind it was and many visiters to the gallery were interacting with one another and talking about what the film could represent.

My least favourite piece of work by Shrigley is this piece: 

I didn't particularly care for the dead, taxidermy animals around the gallery. The "I'm dead" comment was humorous, however I didn't like the use of the dead animals in the piece. The piece itself is a perfect example of Shrigley's unique style of work but I personally didn't care for the use of taxidermy, but that is just my personal opinion.
My least favourite piece of Deller's work is this piece:

I didn't overly care for this piece of work as I couldn't see the point in it really, although the free tea was enjoyable, I didn't fully understand how this piece fitted with the rest of Deller's gallery, I have researched and still don't completely get it. I would probably prefer this piece more if I could see a point in it.

Overall, I really enjoyed the exhibition. I was inspired by much of the work and I found the tasks we had to complete particularly interesting as they allowed me to involve myself with the artwork surrounding me and gave me the chance to immerse myself in the artist's exhibitions and gain a deeper understanding, interest and inspiration of the pieces than I would have done simply walking around and looking at them. 
This exhibition was relevant to the exam theme of "Combinations and alliances" as the two artist's work complemented each other in their quirky yet meaningful style however they also had an interesting contrast of techniques.