David Shrigley's Really Good

The Plinth in 2016 held David Shrigley's 'Really Good'. A giant hand in a thumbs-up gesture - with a really long thumb at that - must mean that something, somewhere, is really good.

But what is that something and where is it? Is it Trafalgar Square? Or all of London? Or maybe the artwork itself? And if it’s so good, why is that? Who says so? And will we agree?

‘Really Good’ is a seven-metre-high hand giving a thumbs up. Cast in bronze, with the same dark patina as the other statues in Trafalgar Square, the thumb is disproportionately long. Shrigley’s ambition is that this simple gesture will become a self-fulfilling prophecy; that things considered ‘bad’ such as the economy, the weather and society, will benefit from a change of consensus towards positivity.

What others are saying

"The closed fingers of the massive hand fill the long rectangular plinth, while the stupendous vertical thumb offers a 21st century answer to Nelson’s Column itself."

Jonathan Jones, The Guardian, read full review

Born in 1968 in Macclesfield, David Shrigley lives and works in Brighton.

His work draws on the British tradition of satire, creating drawings, animations and sculptures that reflect the absurdity of contemporary society.

He has had recent solo exhibitions at Auckland Arts Festival, New Zealand (2015) and Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (2014). Shrigley’s Pass the Spoon was performed at Tramway, Glasgow, and Southbank Centre, London (2011-12), and he was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2013.