Croy Nielsen

BQ, our former neighbours at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin, is presenting a guest show featuring works by David Shrigley at the OC bar.

David Shrigley (b. 1968) is a British artist known for his distinctive, humorous, and often quirky drawings. Combining text and image, his work offers sharp observations on everyday human frailty and the absurdities of contemporary life.

At the centre of the presentation is the neon work NOT NICE, executed in a technique often associated with advertising, consumer culture and the urban landscape. It is accompanied by drawings that give form to the idea of NOT NICE – scenes that expose the awkward, the failed and the uncomfortable. Across these works, Shrigley’s dark, understated British humour unfolds.

The words NOT NICE and NICE appear alternately in glowing red neon. In everyday usage, NICE is a universally positive term signalling approval, while NOT NICE marks a deliberate departure from conventional ideals and social expectations – an invitation to look beyond the merely pleasing and to embrace the world’s complexity in all its many contradictions.

These two seemingly trivial words open up a surprising range of meanings, resonating both in daily life and within the context of art.