David Lynch: The Air is on Fire

Presented at the Ekaterina Foundation in Moscow The Air is on Fire is the largest exhibition devoted to David Lynch as a visual artist. Originally exhibited at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris in 2007, it explores the multiple facets of his work, bringing together paintings, photographs, drawings, lithographs, experimental films, and sound created since 1960.

The Fondation Cartier has organized the most complete exhibition of his work to date, and a look “behind the scenes” at David Lynch’s artistic expression, revealing this essential though little-known aspect of his creativity. The project was born in 2006 from David Lynch’s studio full of paintings, cupboards of black archival boxes, and shelves of labeled binders containing countless drawings. This well conserved collection of his own art dates back to the artist’s high school days and has primarily remained out of sight. Many of the works shown here are now part of the Fondation Cartier’s collection; they are accompanied by pervading sounds conceived by the artist himself, creating a highly personal show that offers the viewer a unique opportunity to interact with a new side of Lynch’s vision in an environment that remains all his own.

David Lynch’s paintings, photographs, and drawings reconstruct his childhood experiences, his adolescent fantasies, and his adult preoccupations. The recurring theme of the home, complete with its potentially sinister underbelly, is represented in dark paintings complete with cryptic messages and organic textures. Lynch’s outrageous sense of humor, however, is also present in the difficult issues his paintings tackle, echoing the cutting comic relief found in even his most disconcerting film work. His photography also captures various moods and atmospheres, from sensual and dreamy to somber and troubling. Photographs of industrial areas treat sewage pipes, bridges, and deserted factories with care, filling remote landscapes with sensitivity and importance. The 2004 Distorted Nudes series consists of taboo black and white erotic photographs, dating from 1840 to 1940, digitally reworked by the artist to form creatures that remain human but adopt surreal forms and expressions. David Lynch’s sketches and drawings compose the most intimate aspect of his creations. On view for the very first time in Russia, these over 500 works, kept since childhood and regularly consulted by Lynch for inspiration, offer an exceptional and uncensored glimpse into his creative process; they capture the artist’s inspirations most clearly, exposing the common threads that run through his entire oeuvre.

The filmmaker’s very first short films are screened in a small theatre designed by the artist and inspired by the Ekaterina Foundation space. The Air is on Fire has been updated especially for this venue to include a series of lithographs by David Lynch that has never before been seen. Created in Paris on several trips since 2007, these works recycle imagery from previous pieces while exploring the medium as a new visual language.

An artist through and through, David Lynch has personally collaborated with the Fondation Cartier throughout the preparation of the exhibition at the Ekaterina Foundation, rendering it a “total work of art” that embraces not only the multiple facets of his visual art production but also his passion for sound. It offers a unique insight into his creative process and invites viewers to delve deep into a fascinating and dizzying creative universe.

The exhibition is being held till July 12 2009.

* Based on press-release and photos presented by Moscow House of Photography .