Whether it be an alluring Los Angeles nightclub or a mysterious town in Washington, the locations present across David Lynch’s filmography play an essential role in crafting the surreal atmosphere we associate with his art. However, one location that remains overlooked throughout Lynch’s work is a city he returned to for decades: our very own Madison, Wisconsin.
Lynch was an American film and television director who rose to prominence with the success of a number of projects since the 1970’s, including “The Elephant Man,” “Blue Velvet” and the immensely popular “Twin Peaks.”
Lynch first became involved with Madison during the 1990s through his wife at the time, Mary Sweeney, a film editor and Madison native. When Lynch visited Madison each summer, he became interested in creating print artwork, which led him to first collaborate with the local print studio Tandem Press as an artist-in-residence in 1997. He would continue to collaborate with Tandem Press in the following decades, and, in 2021, produced a series of nude photogravure prints.
Lynch sadly passed away in 2025, but this October, Tandem Press is shining a light on his Madison works through their exhibit “In Tandem: David Lynch & Christina A. West” which is currently on display at the gallery.
The prints are black-and-white and were created using the photogravure technique, giving them an inky, smudgy quality. The series is composed of surreal images of a nude woman, with various parts of her body missing across each image.
“There's an uncanny nature to them that is similar to his films; there's a little bit of an unease,” Katie Geha, director of Tandem Press told The Daily Cardinal.
Alongside Lynch’s prints are the nude sculptures of Christina A. West, which focus on various components of the male figure.
Through Tandem Press, Geha is interested in juxtaposting two artists' works — like Lynch’s and West’s — to derive new meaning for the work. With Lynch’s focus on the abstraction of the female figure, Geha said she was interested in pairing his work with West’s as a way to deconstruct the presence of the male gaze across nude artwork.
“I thought putting them in conversation with Christina's kind of funny, kind of odd sculptures of men kind of created this interesting tension, and this interesting dialogue that kind of changes David Lynch's prints a little bit,” Geha said.
Although the exhibit challenges themes embedded in Lynch’s prints, Geha said she is also eager to explore the humor created by the pairing of the pieces, as Lynch’s unorthodox sense of humor had always been a notable part of his filmography.
“He was playful himself. I think there's a great humor in his films,” Geha said. “I don't know how his legacy will play out, but if he were alive, I think he would really get a kick out of this exhibition.”
In the year since his passing, Lynch’s involvement with Tandem Gallery is remembered fondly.
Beyond the exhibit, Tandem Press also houses a sound system, gifted by Lynch, because he felt the printers needed music while they worked. In a neighboring room sits a hydraulic press, one of Lynch’s favorites to use when making prints. While text on the machine originally read “DAKE” — the brand of the machine, Geha explained, Lynch blacked out some the lettering, so the press is now marked with his own initials: “DKL.”
The exhibit opened on Sept. 15 and runs until Oct. 30, and guests inside are treated to free merchandise and performances from live bands. According to Geha, the event has had substantial turnout so far, with over 200 attendees, which she attributed to Lynch’s broad appeal across the city of Madison.
“People in the community really, really love David Lynch,” Geha said. “After he died, we were inundated with sales; so many people were buying his prints.”
It is clear that Lynch’s work still resonates with viewers, and his legacy will continue evolving through the presentation of his work.
“He was an artist, true and true,” Geha said. “He just had to make, and he would do that in any way that he could.”
