David Shrigley's Mantis Muse is coming to Copenhagen at the end of March, coinciding with Shrig Shop's 5th birthday!
The Mantis Muse is a giant animatronic praying mantis sculpture created in 2024 to emphasize the importance of art in education. It was originally installed at David’s former school where students took part in lessons inspired by the sculpture, with a particular focus on life drawing.
WHAT: The Mantis Muse Exhibition
WHERE: Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Glentevej 49, 2400 Copenhagen
WHEN: Opening Friday 27 March, 17:00
For its first journey outside of the UK, The Mantis Muse will be exhibited at Galleri Nicolai Wallner from 27 March. Local schools in Copenhagen are invited to attend life drawing sessions before and during the exhibition. For more information about how to get involved see here.
WHAT: Limited Edition T-Shirt Launch with D. Shrig
WHERE: Shrig Shop, Tullinsgade 3, 1618 Copenhagen
WHEN: Saturday 28 March, 11:00
To mark Shrig Shop's 5th birthday and the Mantis Muse in Copenhagen, David Shrigley has created a limited edition Mantis Muse t-shirt. As a big fan of Sonic Youth, he was inspired by the iconic t-shirt from the band's 1992 album Dirty.
The limited edition Mantis Muse t-shirt will be released with D. Shrig on Saturday 28 March at Shrig Shop. Come to the event and get your tee signed by David Shrigley, on the label or wherever you would like.
T-shirts cost 500 DKK each and are available in S, M, L and XL.
The event is open to everyone, while our shop is small it is wheelchair accessible and we’re happy to accommodate other accessibility needs, contact us in advance so we can help!
Any remaining t-shirts will be available to buy online on 1 April. To stay updated with more info to come, subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of our website.
The Mantis Muse limited edition t-shirt was inspired by David's lifelong love of the band Sonic Youth and the iconic merchandise they made for their 1992 album, Dirty. The album cover artwork came from a photograph series by the American artist Mike Kelley using old stuffed animals.
Here David tells about his inspiration for the project:
"In 1992 I went to see Sonic Youth play at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow and it was a really seminal gig, one of the best gig's I'd been to until that point. It was the tour to promote their album Dirty, which had all the artwork for the cover done by the artist Mike Kelley, who I was really keen on.
Mike Kelley's photo series Ahh.. Youth! (1991) & Sonic Youth's album Dirty (1992) 
David Shrigley with Mike Kelley's photo series Ahh.. Youth!
It was the era when Kelley was making these works with soft toys, which he found in thrift stores and I found that artwork really punk rock and interesting. It was a great fusion of things that I liked - artists that I liked, bands that I liked, so I bought the t-shirt.
Unlike a lot of other band t-shirts it was very hard wearing and I had it for many years. Until Andy, my good friend and creative director of my studio, who is an avid collector of t-shirts, was telling me there was one holy grail t-shirt that he couldn't find.
Turns out it was that t-shirt. So I said: "I've got that t-shirt upstairs." He was overjoyed and started crying as I remember. I think I was probably wearing it as pyjamas at that point, so it wasn't a big deal to give it away.
The original Sonic Youth Dirty band t-shirt designed by Tannis Root (1992)
Since then we talked about making some cool merchandise for The Mantis Muse, which is an ongoing project of mine. We came up with the idea to make a version of the Dirty t-shirt with an image of the Mantis Muse, as a homage to the Sonic Youth original, which means so much to us.
We made it at a specialist screen printers in the US, who make and design a lot of bands' merch. We matched the original colours and textures as closely as possible. I especially like the detail on the sleeve. It turned out really well, it's one of the best t-shirts I've done I think."
— David Shrigley
Me and Andy in Mantis Muse tees with the Sonic Youth Dirty original