Online

David Byrne

Theater of the Self

Dec 20, 2022 – Jan 28, 2023

Throughout his storied career as a musician and visual artist, David Byrne has nurtured a practice spanning drawing, photography, installation, performance, and design. This focused online presentation, which follows Byrne’s debut solo exhibition at Pace’s New York gallery in spring 2022, features seven lenticular images created by the artist for the premiere of his immersive production Theater of the Mind in Denver. The artworks in this presentation, on view through January 28, 2023, serve as composite portraits of band and crew members from Byrne’s acclaimed Broadway musical American Utopia, with each work incorporating three photographs.

David Byrne, Aleena, Jacquelene & Abe, 2022, lenticular photograph, 30" × 38" (76.2 cm × 96.5 cm), image

David Byrne, Anna, Lauren & Robert, 2022, lenticular photograph, 30" × 38" (76.2 cm × 96.5 cm), image

In these mesmeric moving images, faces morph and blend into one another to meditate on what Byrne has described as “malleable identity.”

David Byrne, Renée, Tommy & Tim, 2022, lenticular photograph, 30" × 38" (76.2 cm × 96.5 cm), image

“We’re constantly changing. Do we even have a fixed self? I realized I could do this with lenticulars. I took photo portraits of the band members and crew of American Utopia and combined three different faces in each lenticular. Depending on where you stand when looking at one of these, you will see different faces, and sometimes more than one face at the same time. Folks who have seen them find them a bit surprising and also a little disturbing. I like that."

David Byrne

In an interview with Pace, musician Angie Swan, who participated in Byrne’s lenticulars project, said that the artworks speak to the sentiment that “we are all one.”

David Byrne, Angie, Daniel & Karl, 2022, lenticular photograph, 30" × 38" (76.2 cm × 96.5 cm), image

“We have more in common with one another than you would think. For me, the lenticulars represent David’s love for different styles of music—even when putting the American Utopia band together, he said, ‘let me take someone who plays mostly jazz and put them with someone who plays rock.’ It’s a melting pot, and that’s just how David’s brain works.”

Angie Swan
Musician, American Utopia

David Byrne, Meredith, Mauro & Pete, 2022, lenticular photograph, 30" × 38" (76.2 cm × 96.5 cm), image

Speaking about Byrne’s ability to conceptualize both musical and visual projects, including the lenticulars, musician and American Utopia band member Mauro Refosco told Pace, “I think he’s very meticulous. You can tell that he really envisions things in his head before he executes them. I mostly work with David on tours and recording his music … and he always manages to keep everybody in good spirits. It’s really beautiful the way he does that, and I think he brings that to his art.”