Wildly popular British artist David Shrigley will present the first large-scale show of his work in New Zealand, when the exhibition David Shrigley: Lose Your Mind comes to Toi Moroki Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA) in Christchurch this March.

A set of cartoonish ceramic boots, doodle-like drawings and a headless, stuffed ostrich will all feature in CoCA’s new exhibition, presented in partnership with the British Council. David Shrigley: Lose Your Mind includes drawing, sculpture and animated film; highlighting Shrigley’s lively and sardonic imagination. The artist is coming to Christchurch to open the exhibition with a public talk on 10 March.

Best known for his crudely composed and darkly witty cartoons, Shrigley’s international career has seen him work across a variety of media, including drawing, photography, sculpture, animation, painting, unsettling intervention, spoken-word recordings and pop-music videos

His work gained further profile in 2016 after winning the commission for the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square, unveiling his bronze sculpture Really Good, a ten-metre-high hand giving a thumbs up in September.

Paula Orrell, CoCA’s Artistic Director, said: “We’re delighted to be working with David Shrigley and the British Council to bring David Shrigley: Lose Your Mind to CoCA. His work carries themes that people can relate to, wherever in the world they’re from.

“This exhibition begins our second year since reopening in February 2016. CoCA is a cutting edge space for art and culture and is here to stimulate conversations about issues that affect us all. In 2017 we will continue to offer our visitors contemporary art programmes that move and inspire them.

“The Christchurch community has suffered huge trauma over the last few years, and Lose Your Mind is a chance to have some fun and feel better for it. You will almost certainly laugh, but expect to feel a little unsettled. Shrigley’s work is playful, but it’s challenging too.”

David Shrigley: Lose Your Mind shows the breadth of Shrigley’s practice and his darkly witty imaginings. Key works include Ostrich, 2009, a new acquisition for the British Council Collection, in which a taxidermied bird loses its head; Beginning, Middle and End, 2009, a ‘giant continuous sausage’ crafted from clay that is rolled out and arranged in the gallery; and Cheers, 2007 a pair of fishing waders filled with expanding foam.

Ingrid Leary, Director of the British Council in New Zealand, said, “We are thrilled to have works from a major artist from the British Council Collection as well as loans from international museums and galleries being presented for the very first time in New Zealand.”

The exhibition brings together a selection of the artist’s works from the British Council Collection as well as loans from international museums and galleries. David Shrigley: Lose Your Mind began in Guadalajara, Mexico, followed by Santiago, Chile, Seoul, Korea and now Christchurch, New Zealand.

David Shrigley was born in Macclesfield, UK in 1968 and studied at Glasgow School of Art. He is now based in Brighton, England. A nominee for the Turner Prize in 2013, Shrigley’s recent solo exhibitions include the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2014-2015); 'David Shrigley: Drawing' at the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (2014) and 'Brain Activity' at Hayward Gallery, London, and Yerba Beuna Centre for the Arts, San Francisco (2012).

Lose Your Mind runs at CoCA from Saturday 11 March to Sunday 28 May 2017.

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Admission $10. FREE entry for all every Tuesday. Full-time Student (with ID) / Senior Citizen (65 yrs +) $8. Students Under 12s, school groups and Friends of CoCA always free.

The exhibition is supported by a series of public events, including the artist talk with David Shrigley on Friday 10 March. Booking opens soon via www.coca.org.nz/events.