Badly Drawn Boy: Meet David Shrigley

The last time British artist David Shrigley held a book signing, he sat in a warm bar in central London, surrounded by fans of his plangent, insightful line drawings and dysfunctional cartoons. As they approached him, they stripped down to their vests, or rolled up their trouser legs, before having a bespoke Shrigley drawing applied to the skin. Such is the affection with which Shrigley's work is held, that after such signings many devotees have the drawings worked over as permanent tattoos.

Often located in a version of the world in which characters indulge in...