Bare-faced fun as nude Tate life model leaves after long standing date

Of the four Tate exhibits which made it to Ebrington, the one which provoked the most comment and became the ‘butt’ of jokes was David Shrigley’s life ‘Life Model’ installation from 2012.

Known for his crude, dark, thoughtful and hilarious cartoons, Shrigley also makes videos and sculptures, often with a surreal but affecting one-liner, such as in his most famous work, a stuffed dog holding a sign that says simply ‘I’m dead.’

There was much made of the nude, gangly, out of proportion male model, with blinking eyes and a propensity for emptying his bladder in a steel bucket nailed to the floor at his feet, some dismissing it as funny, others as crude. If the point of the annual Tate spectacle is to generate discussion then Shrigley’s entry won hands down.