'He made something every single day': David Lynch’s inscrutable photography celebrated in LA show

The director’s surrealist films defined Los Angeles. Now the city is celebrating his other passion: photography

'He made something every single day': David Lynch’s inscrutable photography celebrated in LA show

TL;DR

  • David Lynch's first posthumous photography exhibition is on display at Pace Gallery in Los Angeles.
  • The exhibition features erotic, disturbing, and sometimes comically violent photographs, reflecting Lynch's surrealist perspective.
  • Pace Gallery and the David Lynch Foundation are working to maintain and catalogue Lynch's fine art work.
  • Lynch's son, Riley, is leading efforts to preserve his father's body of work, highlighting his childhood experiences of exploration and photography with his father.
  • The photographs, including extreme close-ups of women and multiple exposures, evoke mystery, dread, and a sense of things coming apart.
  • Lynch's artistic output also included painting, sculpture, furniture, and lamps, with one lamp featured in the exhibition.
  • According to Riley, Lynch "made something every single day of his life," viewing artistic creation as a necessity and a pleasure.
  • The exhibition includes darkly humorous photos of dissected animals, treated with care and reverence, reflecting Lynch's belief that all things mattered.
  • A major retrospective of Lynch's work is planned for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2028, followed by a world tour.
  • The exhibition brings together fans and collectors, celebrating Lynch's profound connection to Los Angeles, a city he documented like no other.