david lynch presents drawings + paintings for naming exhibit at mima

david lynch presents drawings + paintings for naming exhibit at mima
tv bbq, 2009
watercolour
courtesy of the artist and kayne griffin corcoran, los angeles
photography by brian forrest
image © david lynch

david lynch: naming
mima, middlesbrough
december 12th 2014 – march 26th 2015

since he is probably best recognized for his highly unique cinematic style as a film and television director — creating the iconic twin peaks, eraserhead and blue velvet — many may not know that david lynch originally studied painting and has developed a wide oeuvre of fine art printmaking, photography and drawing. middlesbrough institute of modern art (mima) hosts an exhibition of lynch’s work on paper and short films entitled ‘naming’, tracing the ways in which he has explored titles and labels throughout his career, from 1968 to the present.

dog, 2012
mixed media on paper
courtesy of the artist and kayne griffin corcoran, los angeles
photography by brian forrest
image © david lynch

the complex relationship developed between objects and their names has been thematic throughout the multifaceted artist’s work since ‘the alphabet’, the second short film he made as a student and shown as part of the exhibition. labels are not always descriptive of items in lynch’s surreal and  beautiful universe and the act of naming something never comes as a simple exercise. instead, his images and text create new meanings and a deeper understanding of how language operates, and the ways in which communication changes with context.

spiral, 2012
mixed media on cardboard
courtesy of the artist and kayne griffin corcoran, los angeles
photography by brian forrest
image © david lynch

fire (3), undated
watercolor
courtesy of the artist and kayne griffin corcoran, los angeles
photography by brian forrest
image © david lynch

divided, undated
watercolor
courtesy of the artist and kayne griffin corcoran, los angeles
photography by brian forrest
image © david lynch

telephone, undated
oil and mixed media on canvas
courtesy of the artist and kayne griffin corcoran, los angeles
photography by brian forrest
image © david lynch