Online

David Byrne

dingbats

Oct 15–Nov 2, 2020

Interdisciplinary artist and musician David Byrne made this series of unique hand-drawn illustrations this year while isolating in his Manhattan apartment.

All sales proceeds from the exhibition will benefit the Arbutus Foundation. The drawings were created as part of We Art Not Divided, a collaborative, in-depth journalism project that explores the human capacity—and deeply human desire—to overcome division, in turn promoting a message of unity and bridging divides leading up to the U.S. election this November.

The dingbats drawings explore themes and preoccupations associated with daily life during the COVID-19 pandemic, from uncanny scenes of domestic life to surreal figurative illustrations, seeped in metaphor of a mind plagued by loneliness, boredom, and anxiety brought on by quarantine. While some drawings are entirely literal, others are a subtle evocation of the longstanding inequities and injustices exposed by the pandemic. The dingbats are Byrne’s response—an imaginative way of expressing hope, a desire for connection, and the power of community.

Exhibition Details

David Byrne
dingbats
Oct 15 – Nov 2, 2020

A rotating selection of dingbats will be on view at 540 West 25th Street in New York.

(opens in a new window) Schedule Your Visit

Artwork Release Schedule

Thursday, Oct 15: 10 Drawings
Monday, Oct 19: 10 Drawings
Thursday, Oct 22: 10 Drawings
Monday, Oct 26: 10 Drawings
Thursday, Oct 29: 10 Drawings

thumbnail_WAND logo w_ tag line.png
We Are Not Divided

All sales proceeds from the exhibition will benefit the Arbutus Foundation, Byrne’s non-profit organization dedicated to re-imagining the world through projects that inspire and educate. The drawings were created as part of We Art Not Divided, a collaborative, in-depth journalism project that explores the human capacity—and deeply human desire—to overcome division, in turn promoting a message of unity and bridging divides leading up to the U.S. election this November. We Art Not Divided is a special six-week project produced by the solutions-based online magazine Reasons to be Cheerful, the inaugural project of Arbutus.

(opens in a new window) Learn More

The idea for the dingbats works came about when Byrne’s colleagues at Reasons to be Cheerful suggested he make a series of illustrations to accompany the articles published as part of the We Are Not Divided project. Byrne immediately thought about dingbats—or drawings—used in The New Yorker and other publications to visually break up imposing blocks of text to make reading more digestible. However, unlike the negative connotation usually associated with “dingbat,” which to many implies a lack of intelligence, these drawings echo a unifying message through their sympathetic and humorous reflections on these tumultuous and uncertain times.

Read What means this dingbat? by David Byrne

“Humor sometimes allows us to say the unspeakable. To diffuse the nightmare and yet still somehow view it face on. So these seem to be about how it is to live right now. In this New World. I am trying to imagine ways we can respond, ways we can connect—via bodies or faces made or words, as rivers of mouths and eyes, as a village embodied as a person, a body. These I see as being somewhat hopeful—the rise of the collective is what might save us.”

David Byrne

Fifth Release

October 29, 2020

David Byrne, Headlong, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Social Distancing Hoop, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 8-1/2" × 11" (21.6 cm × 27.9 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Cellular Awareness, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Neither Here Nor There, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Tonsorial Aggregation, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, The Earth is Watching, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 7-1/2" × 10" (19.1 cm × 25.4 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Hierarchy, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 7-1/2" × 10" (19.1 cm × 25.4 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Uncovered, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Drive In, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Cloud Singularity, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame

Fourth Release

October 26, 2020

David Byrne, Infinite Sofa, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Careful What You Wish For, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, The Curious Baby, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 7-1/2" × 10" (19.1 cm × 25.4 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Mutual Support-Mutual Restraint, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Bridge to Mind, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 6-1/2" × 10" (16.5 cm × 25.4 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), paper
David Byrne, Chthonic, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Conundrums When You Wish, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 12" × 9" (30.5 cm × 22.9 cm), paper 14" × 11" (35.6 cm × 27.9 cm), frame
David Byrne, Bottoms Up, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 7-1/2" × 10" (19.1 cm × 25.4 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Exclaiming at the Exclamation, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 8-1/2" × 11" (21.6 cm × 27.9 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Handyman, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame

Third Release

October 22, 2020

David Byrne, Cityhead, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 8-1/2" × 11" (21.6 cm × 27.9 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Moving Day, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 7-1/2" × 10" (19.1 cm × 25.4 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Reach, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 7-1/2" × 10" (19.1 cm × 25.4 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, I Am Multitudes, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 7-1/2" × 10" (19.1 cm × 25.4 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Unplayable Music, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Under the Dome, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 8-1/2" × 11" (21.6 cm × 27.9 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Putti Grown Up, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Millenary Cluster, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Read Me, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Shady Business, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame

Second Release

October 19, 2020

David Byrne, The Long Body, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Heard Immunity, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Directed Flow, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 7-1/2" × 10" (19.1 cm × 25.4 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Thoughts Inside of Thoughts, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 8-1/2" × 11" (21.6 cm × 27.9 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, The Man in The Moon, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Covid Exam, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 7-1/2" × 10" (19.1 cm × 25.4 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Family Portrait, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, The Seductive Vortex, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm) 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Box Game, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 11" × 8-1/2" (27.9 cm × 21.6 cm), paper 14" × 11" (35.6 cm × 27.9 cm), frame
David Byrne, Abandoning the Book, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 7-1/2" × 10" (19.1 cm × 25.4 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame

First Release

October 15, 2020

David Byrne, Podiatrist Punctuation, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 7-1/2" × 10" (19.1 cm × 25.4 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Nature Man, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Movin' On Up, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 8-1/2" × 11" (21.6 cm × 27.9 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Cartesian Duality Ended, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Understanding Her is Easy, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Four Way Boat, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 6-1/2" × 10" (16.5 cm × 25.4 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Face River Flow 2, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, Supply Chain, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 7-1/2" × 10" (19.1 cm × 25.4 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
David Byrne, A Balanced Life, 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 12" × 9" (30.5 cm × 22.9 cm), paper 14" × 11" (35.6 cm × 27.9 cm), frame
David Byrne, T.M.I., 2020, fadeproof waterproof ink on archival paper, 9" × 12" (22.9 cm × 30.5 cm), paper 11" × 14" (27.9 cm × 35.6 cm), frame
To inquire about any of the works featured in this exhibition, please email us at byrne@pacegallery.com.
  • Past, David Byrne, dingbats, Oct 15, 2020