David Shrigley, Something Good Will Happen If We Wait Long Enough, 2024

Something Good Will Happen If We Wait Long Enough (2024) – David Shrigley Linocut

About the Work

Something Good Will Happen If We Wait Long Enough (2024) is a striking David Shrigley linocut that utilises a stark, high-contrast monochrome palette to deliver its message with immediate graphic power. Rendered in rich black ink against a heavily textured off-white background, the composition features bold, hand-cut lettering that characterises the artist's celebrated aesthetic. This stark colour scheme strips away any decorative distraction, focusing the viewer entirely on the raw physical presence of the carved text.

By choosing the physical, deliberate medium of a linocut rather than his usual fluid ink drawings, the artist infuses the message of optimism with a tangible, stubborn sense of permanence. The slight imperfections and negative spaces left by the carving tool suggest a human vulnerability, turning a simple hopeful statement into a complex existential observation. This tension between the laborious printmaking process and the naive simplicity of the text creates a beautifully nuanced work that resonates with quiet hope.

David Shrigley

Nominated for the Turner Prize in 2013, David Shrigley has secured a singular position in contemporary British art through his dry humour and satirical social commentary. His public commissions, including the celebrated Fourth Plinth sculpture Really Good in Trafalgar Square, demonstrate a unique ability to engage diverse audiences. Regularly featured in prestigious institutional contexts such as the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, his works are held in premier public collections worldwide, including Tate and the British Council.

The translation of his spontaneous, immediate drawing style into the structured realm of fine art multiples has been central to his global appeal. Each David Shrigley print acts as a democratic conduit for his philosophy, preserving the urgent, diaristic quality of his original notebook pages. By utilising traditional printmaking techniques to reproduce his crude but profound observations, he elevates the commonplace into highly collectable works of art.

Screenprint Process

As an edition of only 100, this limited release demonstrates an exceptional level of hand-crafted detail, distinguishing it from his larger commercial editions. Pressed onto heavyweight, archival Somerset paper, the linocut block leaves a deep, tactile indentation that highlights the rich density of the oil-based black ink. While Shrigley frequently utilises the screenprint medium to achieve flat, saturated colour fields, this hand-carved linocut offers a more organic, artisanal texture that celebrates the physical process of relief printing.

This deliberate method of printmaking ensures that the spontaneous energy of his line is preserved through the physical resistance of the carved block. Working in collaboration with the renowned Schäfer Grafik print studio, the artist ensures that each David Shrigley limited edition print maintains the precise graphic clarity of the original design. The resulting impression captures the subtle variations in ink density, making every sheet a unique testament to the collaborative printmaking tradition.

Collectability

Driven by robust collector interest, text-based works by the artist remain among the most sought-after categories in the contemporary print market. His minimalist textual interventions possess an instant recognisability that appeals to both seasoned collectors and those establishing a contemporary collection. The universal themes addressed in these graphic assertions ensure a continued appeal that transcends shifting market trends.

Representing an important text piece from his highly active 2024 printmaking period, the piece remains a particularly desirable example of Shrigley's graphic practice. With a restricted edition size of 100, this release is notably scarcer than many of his larger screenprints, further driving its strong secondary-market presence. Collectors have increasingly prioritised these tactile, low-edition relief prints for their material depth and conceptual clarity.