David Sherry is a 38-year-old artist, originally from Newry in Northern Ireland, but later educated at the Glasgow School of Art and now resident in the West. He will be appearing at the Printmakers Gallery later this month.
Some of Sherry's best known work is his performance art in which he attempts to 'expose the systematic processes of day to day life'.
In Running for the Bus (1999), he writes, 'Over a one day period I decided to make serious efforts to catch busses that pull away from the bus stop and were just beyond catching. I also carried two large plastic bags of shopping just to make my point obvious. Throughout the day I ran for and missed sixty three busses. I had a friend film a one hour period of this activity'.
Another project, Avoiding Eye Contact for One Seven Day Period, took place over a week in 1999, during which time Sherry avoided making eye contact. His Carrying a Bucket of Water about for a Week (2000) took place over seven days.
In his video 'Stitching', he stitched pieces of wood to his feet while offering advice to the viewer about how to do the same and swearing in pain. It was shortlisted for the 2003 Becks Prize and reviewed, not altogether favourably, by Adrian Searle in the Guardian.
Sherry's approach and oeuvre were more sympathetically appraised by the Ikon Gallery in 2009:
[img_assist|nid=2825|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=200|height=200]'Executed in an absolutely deadpan manner, Sherry’s project brings the language of the TV sketch show together with questions related to human psychology and anthropology. Through simple and slight actions he reveals the "bad faith" that often translates into behaviour patterns, and the result is both comic and darkly provocative.'
Images from some of the artist's other performances are available here.
As part of the Printmakers Gallery Negativnights (curated by Superclub's Ross Christie), at 6.30pm on 29 March, Sherry will perform 'musical works' from his album I LoveThose Paintings.
Some readers may wish to make an artistic statement of their own by Not Attending a Performance Art Performance for One Evening, but those who would rather join the audience can do so by bookiing a limited place at: office@edinburgh-printmakers.co.uk (Tel. 557 2479). Tickets cost £5 (concessions £4), and three are available for the price of two.