Moving paintings
David Lynch. One of the last real surreal artists.
Eraserhead’s images were always intriguing for me when I was at art school, but didn’t watch it until later in life, and what a shock. It stressed me, it was unpleasant to watch, but at the same time so refreshing, so unreal yet real at the same time. The textures, materials, the use of black and white are incredibly plastic, you would say it’s and art movie, but it’s a classic movie. The story and the script are reminiscence of the dramas of the old 40’s and 50’s movies, with a refreshing yet a little dark look from David’s head. This mix would be something that we would experience for his entire career, always different, always weird.
But this weirdness is what makes his art refreshing, different, honest to art and raw life, yet inside a bubble, a dream, a story, a time that is no longer here but that needs to be remembered for ever. David is true to art, transparent, without politics or an agenda, without trying to push an ideology, it’s pure observation and creation. He just wants to create, which makes him a true artist, he is raw creativity, portraying simplicity yet complexity in ideas that are almost incomprehensible. This is what makes his art great, that it comes from a state of pure creation and honesty to the expression process.
It is not widely known that he wanted to be a painter since he was a teenager, and that he is and has been actually, a really good one, he studied it at art school and dedicated his brain and soul to it for many years. Moving paintings were experimental works that got him into film at an early age, and also something that we would see translated in all of his filmography, throughout colors, sounds and dialogs.
You won’t see him talk about surrealism or the state of art, he talks about life, about the inner self, about people and happenings, you just don’t feel Lynch like a forced personality like Dali or Jodo. All of him is art, which is why you can get an experience out of him talking about anything, as well as watching one of his movies or paintings.
He himself is a piece of moving art, and like his films and paintings, weird yet magnificently authentic.
The creative process comes from inner and outer observation, processing and honest experimentation of the artist, without the fear of criticism or filters.