Discover “Up In Flames” – a new exhibit at DOX Centre in Prague, Czech Republic, showcasing over 400 artworks, belonging to the aesthetically appealing world of David Lynch, characterised by a particularly odd panache.

Who was David Lynch?

David Lynch was born in 1946, in Missoula County, Montana, the United States, and was a contemporary American artist, who frequently moved places, according to wherever his artistic tendencies would take him. Despite being mainly recognised for his imaginative films, Lynch profoundly explored various branches of the art world. Initially, he wished to pursue the path of a painter. Through his masterpieces carved in this branch, he experimented with the colour countlessly, to his heart’s content, to the point it had become his true signature colour. He associates this particular colour to a sense of emancipation – freedom, even. Hence he uses it to his advantage to add a touch of chimerical feeling to his artworks.

“One of the reasons I prefer painting in black and white, or almost in black and white, is that if you have some shadow or darkness in the frame, then your mind can travel in there and dream. In general, color is a little too real. If it’s too close. It doesn’t make you dream much. If everything is visible and there’s too much light, the thing is what it is, but it isn’t any more than that.”

David Lynch

It’s worth mentioning, that he also ventured forth into the acting world – filmmaking, distinctively. A notable achievement in this context, would be the creation of his first motion picture, “Eraserhead” in 1977, which was actually a brief horror film. However, it wasn’t until 1980, when the film “The Elephant Man”, in 1980, brought his tremendous success in this industry. For which not only was he critically acclaimed for it, but received plenty awards, furthering cementing his attainment as an innovative filmmaker.

The idea behind ‘Up In Flames’

The chosen name for the exhibit, carries in its essence, the artist’s flair, as well as versatility which has been consistently and vividly coursed over the years, through his works of arts – given that the exhibit doesn’t focus on one distinct concept. Whether those include drawings, pictures, lithographs, paintings, or short animated films, the exhibit aims to acquaint visitors with the artist’s works from many different periods in time.

Oddity, simplicity, and storyline; a somewhat satisfying balance

The two pictures look as if they were extracted from a shattered dream, deep within one’s troubled conscious. In the left, a strange apparition, human-like too, seems to rescue a body, carrying them to a place called “my house”. It can be interpreted as both eerie, in the sense that the perception conveyed is that of feeling pulled deeper into an unknown chaos, that’s yet to unfold. Or, strangely sweet, as the action standalone is generally viewed as tender. While the image on the right depicts a bedlam feeling, and overall the disarray after a house fire has occurred. Therefore, both pictures complement each other uniquely. It hints at the vague idea on how Lynch perceives the concept of home. He sees it as messy, fragile, even doomed to fail when it comes to meeting his expectations of what one’s comfort place should be.

Nameless faces and wordless stories

The image presents 15 nameless faces, whose only identifiable – and arguably key feature, is the shape of their heads. Through them, Lynch perfectly encapsulated the feeling of eeriness or dread even. That is supported by each unknown figure’s distorted expression, lack of facial parts, or peculiar signs on scattered across their supposed physiognomy. Individually, each figure can reflect an inner turmoil of  forgotten humans, albeit uniquely manifested, thus remaining now as mere shadows of their pasts. Altogether, they amplify the disturbances, caused by the aforementioned turmoil they convey, thus substantialising the idea that Lynch can turn even the most basic shapes, into an arsenal of wordless stories.

Fragments in motion

The image showcase Lynch’s Paris Suite 1-12 lithographs. Which, given the artist’s crave for the unknown, profundity and unusual phenomena, the pictures come across as tiny fragments, extracted from a restless mind. However, they are meticulously arranged, to purposefully evoke curiosity deep within the person whose gaze fall on the litographs –  a curiosity that rattles them to search in between the lines. Speaking of lines, Lynch combines those with forms that float loosely, and specks of red. Conjointly, they appear as an interruption in one’s train of thought. The illusion that the pieces are in constant state of motion is apparent. Thus, openly inviting people to feel the discordant mess of ideas no matter the state you are in – dynamic or stationary.

_{Featured image: Monica Tofan (Ph)}