all-around-luna

There are strange coincidences in life. I still don’t know why I came across the advert for the David Lynch exhibition ‘Circle of Dreams’ one day before it was finished. I really love his work and it must have been my lucky day. Anyway, I was very impressed and delighted by it all. Here’s what they say about Lynch’s conception of art – taken from the very exhibition website :

http://www.centredelagravure.be/Page_Generale.asp?DocID=12703&expo=Actu&la=2&langue=EN

During spring 2013, Le Centre de la Gravure will feature David Lynch’s lithographs and woodcuts for the first time in Belgium. His first experimental short films, at the edge of fine arts and animation, will come along with the prints. David Lynch is particularly known for his cinema.  It was this obsessive desire to see his paintings moving, which led him to make films. His first short films are conceived as moving paintings and launch his transition to cinema. David Lynch has maintained his interest in the fine arts and has produced, in particular, drawings, photographs and paintings. For him, the important thing was to find the appropriate mood and medium each time to convey the ideas that came to his mind. In 2007, David Lynch discovered lithography in a Parisian atelier. His first lithographs were made from abstract drawings on post-it and became the Paris Suite. Since then he goes back every year to produce lithographs or woodcuts, in this atelier where Picasso, Matisse or Giacometti used to work.

As I walked through the exhibition, it occurred to me that the frames were mirroring the rest of the room. So I started to look at them in a totally different way. It was almost like an illusion where things aren’t quite what they seem to be. I tried to catch it the best I could so that you can visualise it…

After that I watched a short film called “The Grandmother”. It litterally felt like animated paintings. I enjoyed it a lot. Then I moved to the second level of the exhibition to discover more lithographs and video projections. Suddenly it struck my mind that Lynch, while making very personal and unusual artistic creations, is influenced by many other artists and that it shows in his work. I started to see where and how. And this double reading enchanted me ever more. Here’s a few examples…

I cannot finish this short review without speaking of the 'hand' symbol that appears regularly in Lynch’s work. The hand appeared in paintings 30.000 years ago on caves’ walls. It never stopped representing the transmission of ideas, a symbol of spirituality and a powerful tool at the same time. The hand is ‘language’ for deaf people. The hand feeds, caresses and protects. It also deprives, hurts and destroys. The hand is mysterious too and some people think they can read your soul in your palm…

The exhibition is now finished but I'm sure you'll catch up with Lynch somewhere around the planet or in a dream...

http://davidlynch.com

www.itemeditions.com

https://www.facebook.com/Lynchland?fref=ts

© 2013