Most know David Lynch as one of cinema’s most original talents, but he is also a prolific visual and musical artist whose boundless creativity spills over into the realms of painting, photography, songwriting and more.
He moved to Los Angeles in 1970 to study filmmaking at the AFI Center for Advanced Film Studies. During his time there, Lynch began working on what would become his first feature, Eraserhead. Lynch has since received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, for his films The Elephant Man (1980), Blue Velvet (1986), and Mulholland Dr. (2001) as well as the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Wild At Heart, a Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival, and France’s Cesar Award for Best Foreign Film for The Elephant Man and Mulholland Dr.
His work as a painter provides a deeper understanding of his vision and also reveals a vital source of inspiration for his instantly recognizable filmmaking aesthetic. A major retrospective of Lynch’s artwork — called “The Air Is on Fire” — was displayed in Paris at the Fondation Cartier in 2007. In 2010, an extensive collection of his drawings, paintings and photographs was featured in the book Dark Splendor.
Crazy Clown Time – released in 2011 – marked Lynch’s solo debut as a musical artist. Evolving from “home-studio jam sessions and sporadic experiments”, the album included 14 original tracks written, performed and produced by Lynch. Crazy Clown Time also included a collaboration with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O – both coming together on the single Pinky’s Dream. Moby & Trentemøller also contributed iconic remixes, part of the Crazy Clown Time Deluxe Edition.
Second album The Big Dream came in 2013. It was conceived in a similar vein to the first, with Lynch remarking –“most of the songs start out as a type of blues jam and then we go sideways from there. What comes out is a hybrid, modernized form of low-down blues.” Lead single ‘I’m Waiting Here’ featured vocals from left-field popstar Lykke Li, with Moby, Bastille & Venetian Snares providing track reworks for the Big Dream Remix EP – released in 2014.
Prior to his solo albums, Lynch worked on a number of collaborative projects – working with composer Angelo Badalamenti (Twin Peaks), Mark Linkous as Sparklehorse, and Danger Mouse (Dark Night of the Soul). In 2006, Lynch also worked on Polish Night Music, a collaboration with concert pianist and composer Marek Zebrowski. The two originally met on the set of Inland Empire – Zebrowski an on-set translator. Originally only available digitally and on CD, 2015 saw Polish Night Music re-released – now available on a beautiful deluxe LP (via davidlynch.com)
Existing alongside his various artistic projects, The David Lynch Foundation For Consciousness-Based Education and Peace was established in 2005. A long-time practitioner of transcendental meditation, Lynch established the group to promote the technique among at-risk populations. You can find more info on the Foundation here: http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org
