David Lynch’s bottomless paint box

A career spanning the last five decades, David Lynch’s cinematic panache has stood the test of time for a reason. The Lynchian aesthetic, so singular and so peculiar, will continue to live on far beyond the silver screen.

When David Lynch was a kid, his mother wouldn’t let him use coloring books. She feared it would limit or even kill his creativity. A body of work that spanned film, photography, music, painting, sculpture, and design, all the mediums the late American avant-garde aesthete explored (and bent to his whims) throughout his storied career indeed convey the courageous act of creating outside the lines.

Lynch’s singular technique of ambiguous storytelling bore flavors, color concoctions, personas, concepts, and climates we will never be able to shake. He existed outside language in the realm of feeling, of intuition, and of the mystifying, ever-intriguing, great unconscious. But there are also his tangible inventions.

“I went to a psychiatrist once. I was doing something that had become a pattern in my life, and I thought, Well, I should go talk to a psychiatrist. When I got into the room, I asked him, “Do you think that this process could, in any way, damage my creativity?” And he said, “Well, David, I have to be honest: it could.” And I shook his hand and left.” – © Antoine d’Agata/Magnum Photos

Founded in 2011 and named after the fictional sinister club in David Lynch’s movie “Mulholland Drive” (2001), a surrealist Neo-noir thriller, famed Parisian lounge Silencio’s interior originates from drawings and scenography by Lynch. The 700sqm underground space encompasses a photo gallery, a 1sqm gallery, a 24-seat movie theatre, a library, a smoking room (naturally), the blackroom, two bars and a stage. Silencio’s intimate rooms follow an intuitive study of transitions. Each section of the club is characterized by a purpose, marked by Lynch’s canny understanding of the psychology of color.

Famed Parisian lounge Silencio's interior originates from drawings and scenography by David Lynch. - © Le Silencio — Famed Parisian lounge Silencio’s interior originates from drawings and scenography by David Lynch. – © Le Silencio

The carpet that covers the main entrance hall, the bar, and the lounging areas and is spread throughout is a reproduction of an original edging print by David Lynch. Silencio’s furnishing includes the “Black Birds,” a series of asymmetric faceted black leather seats and tables with sliced irregularity, and the “Wire” welcoming seats and sofas. With its raw wood cladding blocks, decomposed marble, and the almost palpable delicate dance between lights and shadows bathed in nuances of gold, the eerie yet elegant visual identity of the space allows you to stay present and curious.

With its raw wood cladding blocks and decomposed marble, hints of gold spread throughout, Silencio Paris fosters a delicate dance between lights and shadows. - © Le Silencio — With its raw wood cladding blocks and decomposed marble, Silencio Paris fosters a delicate dance between lights and shadows. – © Le Silencio

Silencio’s sister location in Manhattan opened its doors in early 2024. Offering live musical performances and DJ sets as well as cutting-edge cultural programming, nearly every inch of Silencio New York is blanketed in Lynch’s signature arresting crimson velvet and echoes legendary pillars of nightlife such as Studio 54 with layers of surrealism and eroticism.

Silencio's sister location is in Manhattan, New York. With its gold accents, mystery, and allure, head designer Harry Nuriev said he wanted to respect Lynch’s original project while fusing the “essence of French flair into the character of New York City.”⁠ - © Silencio New York — Silencio’s sister location is in Manhattan, New York: With its gold accents, mystery, and allure, head designer Harry Nuriev said he wanted to respect David Lynch’s original project while fusing the “essence of French flair into the character of New York City.”⁠ – © Silencio New York

Silencio New York’s head designer and Crosby Studios founder Harry Nuriev opted for extreme minimalism as there’s no art and no patterns to distract. Booths are built into alcoves that are hidden behind the venue’s theater-esque velvet curtains. Curtains that allow you to be transported to the famous Red Room from “Twin Peaks” (1990-1991), David Lynch’s tantalizing television series. Some sort of a waiting room, the Red Room served as a portal into a mystical dimension where things are never what they appear to be on the surface–as surfaces are not to be trusted–and where mysteries can never be truly punctuated no matter how hard you try.

Twin Peaks Season 3: The Red Room is synonymous with the Lynchian style found throughout Twin Peaks with its floor-length crimson curtains and black-and-white chevron flooring. - © Sky Atlantic — Twin Peaks Season 3: The Red Room is synonymous with the Lynchian style found throughout all seasons of the hit television series with its floor-length crimson curtains and black-and-white chevron flooring. – © Sky Atlantic

Sent by Premiere magazine to the set of Lynch’s 1997 film “Lost Highway,” the writer David Foster Wallace defined Lynchian as “a particular kind of irony where the very macabre and the very mundane combine in such a way as to reveal the former’s perpetual containment within the latter.” And so, his name rightfully became an adjective.

The Lynchian living room at "The Air is on Fire." In 2007, the Cartier Foundation in Paris showcased a retrospective exhibition portraying the multiple facets of David Lynch's art. It was made up of 35 paintings, more than 150 photographs, dozens of drawings, and film projections. - © The Cartier Foundation — The Lynchian living room at “The Air is on Fire.” In 2007, the Cartier Foundation in Paris showcased a retrospective exhibition portraying the multiple facets of David Lynch’s art. It was made up of 35 paintings, more than 150 photographs, dozens of drawings, and film projections. – © The Cartier Foundation

David Lynch’s infatuation with darkness and inescapable violence manifests in the ever-present possibility of things falling apart that pulsates throughout his oeuvre. Curated by Antonio Monda and created in partnership with Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Lynch’s “Thinking Rooms” presented during Salone del Mobile in 2024 echoed the dangerous stillness of his greatest works.

Curated by filmmaker Antonio Monda and created in partnership with Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Lynch’s “Thinking Rooms” were showcased during Salone del Mobile in 2024. - © Salone del Mobile Milan — Curated by filmmaker Antonio Monda and created in partnership with Piccolo Teatro di Milano, David Lynch’s “Thinking Rooms” were showcased during Salone del Mobile in 2024. – © Salone del Mobile Milan

After passing through two ovoid shells, characteristically framed by ruby red curtains, inside Lynch’s “Thinking Rooms,” shades of scarlet were absorbed by absolute blackness. A photograph reminiscent of the settings of his debut feature “Eraserhead” (1978). An image of a hanging haunch of beef. A mirror and a clock. Colors that refer to time and its transcendence. Enigmatic out-of-scale forms. Lynch promised visitors would emerge equipped with more energy, happiness, creativity, and freshly discovered means of “thinking better”. And he delivered.

Lynch promised everyone who went inside his "Thinking Romms" would emerge equipped with more energy, happiness, creativity, and freshly discovered means of “thinking better”. - © Salone del Mobile Milan — David Lynch promised everyone who went inside his “Thinking Romms” would emerge equipped with more energy, happiness, creativity, and freshly discovered means of “thinking better”. – © Salone del Mobile Milan

Lynch strove to show us what lies underneath. He allowed us to experience foreign emotions, ones we cannot quite articulate. His dreamlike imagery and sound design, his miscellaneous twisted tales of innocence, lust, corruption, and greed piece together a distorted view of life, nourished by rawness and unflinching honesty.

In a letter John Steinbeck sent to former U.S. President John F. Kennedy some days after his memorable inauguration in 1961, the prolific author wrote “A nation may be moved by its statesmen and defended by its military but it is usually remembered for its artists.” David Lynch changed my life. His artistry will forever linger in the air–through his feverish cinematic masterpieces and his unrivaled approach to design. Consistently free and unpredictable in all his creative endeavors, he will be remembered for his relentless refusal to spoon-feed easy answers to the audience, a risk-taker at heart.