Fancy a sprinkle of dust on your dinner? What about a smattering of nothing? These are not your average condiment shakers – but then this isn’t your average restaurant. London fine-dining establishment Sketch has been totally transformed by the darkly funny scrawls of artist David Shrigley, who has produced more than 240 original drawings as well a range of bemusing tableware as part of the restaurant’s artist takeover.
There’s reassuring tea cups with ‘It’s OK’ penned at the bottom and typographic serveware that ranges from the humorously matter-of-fact (Food) to the existential (Ghosts and Dreams). Shrigley might have toned down his bite for the dinner table – there’s none of his cocaine and heroin salt and pepper shakers here – but his trademark mix of humour and horror are on full show on the walls. One cartoon-like sketch of a chainsaw intimidatingly reads (in a the capital letters of a psychopath), “EVERYTHING MUST BE CUT IN HALF” and another depicts intravenous drug use – not your everyday restaurant wall art. Oh, and there’s plenty of wang. The fleshy pink velvets picked by French interior designer India Mahdavi, who collaborated with Sketch on the project, do little to distract you from this, and also have the added effect of creating the impression you’ve entered into a surreal parallel existence – the Twin Peak’s red lodge but with Shrigley as director. Bon appétit!
