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Curator J Myszka Lewis views one of the works created by famed filmmaker David Lynch in “Enigma: The Prints of David Lynch," now at Tandem Press. An exhibition opening is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday.
During a brief storm Tuesday, a driving rain transformed into a throbbing downpour and, for a brief moment, Madison’s East Side grew dark as hail crashed from a threatening sky.
Inside the gallery at Tandem Press, director Paula Panczenko peered out the window and declared the weather “Lynchian.”
It’s an adjective often used these days at UW-Madison’s Tandem Press, located at 1743 Commercial Ave. and currently hosting the exhibition “Enigma: The Prints of David Lynch” through Oct. 28.
A free public opening is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday, followed by an outdoor screening of the 2016 documentary “David Lynch: The Art Life.”
J Myszka Lewis, curator, shows a textured print made at UW-Madison's Tandem Press by the filmmaker and artist David Lynch. Lynch is a longtime collaborator with Tandem Press.
Lynch himself, the recipient of a 2019 Academy Honorary Award, is best known as an absurdist, surrealist filmmaker — his works include “Eraserhead,” “Elephant Man,” “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive” — and as co-creator of the “Twin Peaks” TV series, which ran from 1990-91 and was revived for a season on Showtime in 2017.
Less known, perhaps, is that Lynch, originally and still a prolific painter, is also a musician, print artist and a longtime collaborator with UW-Madison’s Tandem Press.
“His former wife (film producer Mary Sweeney) lived here, and he would come to Madison every summer” starting in the late 1990s, Panczenko recalled. “Once we got to know him a little bit, he would come in from time to time and just make prints.”
“The first time he came in, everybody was so scared — nobody said a word to him,” she recalled. Others at the press were so intimidated, “They just kept their heads down and couldn’t believe they were working with David Lynch, especially the students. After a few days, he turned around to everyone and said, ‘Doesn’t anyone want to show old David their work?’ So they brought him their work.”
“He’s a very charming, friendly person,” Panczenko said. “He’s quite different than the work — he sees both sides, the dark, and the lighter side of life.”
Lynch’s cinematic aesthetic is described as “surrealist horror” and “darkly comic,” but is so distinctive that it has its own unique descriptor: “Lynchian.” And his works in Tandem’s “Enigma,” created between 1998 and 2021, dwell on that darker, moody Lynchian side, built on layers of black and mystery.
David Lynch used image manipulation software for his latest series, titled "Distorted Nude Photogravures."
For his most recent print series, “Distorted Nude Photogravures,” Lynch used image manipulation software to alter photographs borrowed with permission from the collection “1000 Nudes: A History of Erotic Photography from 1839-1939.” The resulting images echo a 19th-century peep show, but the bodies are dim, deformed and seemingly both distant and close.
Lynch experimented with the works amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and he and Tandem printmakers sent proofs back and forth through the mail, said Tandem curator J Myszka Lewis.
“That’s part of the times now, that artists have to work that way,” she said.
In a series from 1999, Lynch evokes burnt desert shrubs in shades of black. Another group of highly textured collagraphs were created using handmade paper and layered materials — some that Lynch bought at a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store, such as a doll or faux-lizard-skin bag, Lewis said — that he painted and then placed in a hydraulic press.
J Myszka Lewis, curator at Tandem Press, displays the hydraulic press where David Lynch repainted the "DAKE" name so that just "DKL," his own initials, stood out.
Tandem Press visitors can see the hydraulic press, a favorite of the artist, where he left his mark when he repainted a metal plate on the machine bearing the letters DAKE. Now they read “DKL,” Lynch’s initials.
“Enigma” was designed to pique the curiosity of Lynch fans who might not have previously followed his printmaking career — and it seems to be working.
“One person came in and I didn’t even have to ask what they wanted to see: They were wearing a ‘Twin Peaks’ T-shirt,” Panczenko said.
“We had a couple of people drive up from Illinois to see the show,” Lewis said. “There was someone from the West Coast who happened to be in the area and wanted to come in and see it. We’re definitely getting people from Madison and the area.”
The prints are for sale, most between $2,000 and $4,000 unframed.
Lewis displays some of Lynch's photogravures.
Born in Missoula, Montana, in 1946, Lynch studied painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In 1970, he moved to Los Angeles to study filmmaking at the AFI Center for Advanced Film Studies.
“Everything emanates from his paintings. He’s always painted,” Panczenko said. In fact, the documentary “The Art Life” explores how painting led Lynch to film, Lewis said.
For the exhibition opening, “At first, we thought we’d show one of the films he’s known for,” she said. But “The Art Life” also discusses where his inspiration comes from — something that even Lynch fans might not have quite figured out.
“His work is so mysterious, and he doesn’t like to share his thinking behind his work, or what it’s supposed to mean,” she said. “It’s very open-ended.”
What: “Enigma: The Prints of David Lynch”
Where: Tandem Press, 1743 Commercial Ave.
When: On view 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday through Oct. 28. Opening reception from 5-8:30 p.m. Friday, with an outdoor screening of the documentary “David Lynch: The Art Life.” Bring your own chair and blankets.
Jazz series: Tandem Press also hosts a free, monthly Friday night jazz series in person and online. See tandempress.wisc.edu/events/jazz-series/
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Gayle Worland is an arts and features reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal.
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Curator J Myszka Lewis views one of the works created by famed filmmaker David Lynch in “Enigma: The Prints of David Lynch," now at Tandem Press. An exhibition opening is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday.
J Myszka Lewis, curator, shows a textured print made at UW-Madison's Tandem Press by the filmmaker and artist David Lynch. Lynch is a longtime collaborator with Tandem Press.
David Lynch used image manipulation software for his latest series, titled "Distorted Nude Photogravures."
J Myszka Lewis, curator at Tandem Press, displays the hydraulic press where David Lynch repainted the "DAKE" name so that just "DKL," his own initials, stood out.
Lewis displays some of Lynch's photogravures.
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