by Lynch, David
First published 2014
While audiences know David Lynch for his films, fewer recognize his lifelong commitment to visual art. This catalog documents his first major American museum exhibition, presenting ninety-five paintings, drawings, and prints spanning from 1965 to today. Lynch creates works that mirror his cinematic sensibilities through violent undertones, dark comedy, and mysterious atmospheres. He achieves these effects by incorporating text into his pieces, warping forms beyond recognition, and disrupting paint surfaces around his subjects. The home appears repeatedly as a setting for violence, memory, and intense emotion. Other pieces examine the strange and delicate dynamics between people. The collection includes rarely displayed works from his formative Philadelphia years and pieces from American and European collections. Most artworks stand independent from his film projects, revealing a separate creative path that developed alongside his movie career. The catalog addresses art dealer Leo Castelli's 1987 observation about wanting to understand Lynch's artistic evolution.
Genres: biography, art, contemporary, non-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: creative-process, separate-creative-path
Setting: America, Europe, Philadelphia
Period: 1965-today
157 pages · Hardcover · University of California Press