In The Trees: Twin Peaks 20th Anniversary Art Exhibition

Twin Peaks isn’t merely my favorite television series of all time, it is in fact one of my very favorite things of all time, period. I’ve extolled the virtues of Twin Peaks on this site before (here in fact) so if you are unfamiliar with the show and its legacy, you might want to read that first. I’m going to try and not repeat myself too much and say things I’ve already said before, so I’ll try to be brief and sum it up: David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks was years ahead of its time, a true television original. On a personal level, the show affected me in a profound way. To this day, whenever a new person comes into my life, at some point I’m going to sit them down and introduce them to the show…if they get it, then chances are they get me. I use Twin Peaks as my personal barometer of how well we are going to click or not, almost like a litmus test of sorts. Twin Peaks is that ingrained in my DNA now. So needless to say, the moment I heard there was going to be a Twin Peaks 20th Anniversary art show in town, I was counting down the days.

Presented by Good Apple, in conjunction with CBS Consumer Products (the current rights holders to the series) In The Trees: Twin Peaks 20th Anniversary Art Exhibition was held Saturday, February 12th at Clifton’s Brookdale restaurant in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Twin Peaks’ influence has been felt on television ever since it went off the air, but this particular exhibition was meant to reflect the influence of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s vision on the contemporary visual art world. 

When arriving at Clifton’s, the location for the exhibit, I was shocked at just how many people were at this event. In fact, the line was going down the street, and I had to wait nearly an hour to get in. I had to ask someone if there was like a concert or something going on that night…this couldn’t all be over an art show based on a television series that lasted a season and a half and was cancelled, could it? I mean, a good amount of these people in line were probably not even born when Twin Peaks premiered.  But the line was indeed for the show, and as a fan of the series from the moment it came on, all I could feel was a certain sense of vindication.  Back when the show was shit canned in 1991 by the network, critics came out of the woodwork calling the series “an experiment that failed” and went back to watching the same old crap on tv. Well, twenty plus years later, I don’t think there are any art exhibitions inspired by Matlock or Empty Nest. And I doubt there are any new fervent fans in their teens and early twenties being created today for shows like Major Dad or Coach.

When I finally got in the doors of Clifton’s, a depression era eatery totally decked out in faux woodland atmosphere, with Angelo Badalamenti’s iconic Twin Peaks score blaring over the speakers, and patrons eating cherry pie, donuts and coffee…all I could think was I’d somehow landed in some kind of Twin Peaks theme park. The sixteen year old kid in me, the one who held Twin Peaks viewing parties and often fell asleep listening to the show’s ethereal soundtrack album while clutching his dog eared copy of The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, was grinning from ear to ear.

As for the art itself, my only complaint was I wish there was lot more of it. All together, there were maybe only twenty or so pieces on display here. The two signature stand out pieces were artist Tim Biskup’s “Walk With Bob”, a giant 72″ x 48″ cubist style recreation of the series’ iconic portrait of homecoming queen/murder victim Laura Palmer.  Another amazing example was artist Paul Chatem’s “A Damn Good Cup of Coffee”, a 44” x 32” piece painted on wood with actual working gears. This was one of those rare instances where the crowd was actually encouraged to touch the art. One doesn’t see that too often.

Series co-creator David Lynch, himself an accomplished visual artist, even contributed a series of pieces for the show, including a map of Twin Peaks and photo set of anniversary merit badges (Lynch’s official bio lists him only as “Eagle Scout, Missoula Montana” so I’d say he takes that boy scout title pretty damn seriously) A lot of his art was on display upstairs, in a makeshift recreation of the series’ otherworldly Red Room. Like a true Peaks fanboy, I brought along my copy of the complete series DVD box set and a sharpie, just in case Mr. Lynch made an appearance and I could harass him for an autograph. Alas, he was a no show. Aside from Lynch, other people involved in the show contributed art as well; actress Grace Zabriskie, who played Laura Palmer’s mother, contributed a series of hand crafted fine art boxes inspired by the show’s storylines, and Richard Beymer, veteran character actor who played the evil Benjamin Horne had a series of photographs on display that he took during the filming of the Twin Peak’s final episode. 

Of course, aside from all the beautiful art on display, there was the merchandise. Now, with many beloved geek properties, fans are inundated with so much product that after years and years of it they never wanna see another Spock shirt or Darth Vader baseball cap ever again. However, up until now, there has been almost no Twin Peaks merchandise of any kind for nearly twenty years. Since David Lynch has to sign off on any and all Twin Peaks merchandise, he has essentially kept any official Twin Peaks stuff off the shelves, probably in an attempt to retain the integrity of the show. Noble attempt Mr. Lynch, but we’re Americans, and we want our swag sir. CBS, the current copyright holder, finally convinced Mr. Lynch of producing items for this event, and fans were now able to buy Double R Diner coffee mugs, Great Northern Hotel stationary, and of course, t-shirts. The line for the merchandise was nearly as long as the line to get in the show, and that’s no exaggeration. And I fully expect even more product in the future; CBS was filming at the event, and posted a sign at the door stating that anyone who sets foot in the door was allowing their likeness to be used in a future documentary. I smell a special feature for an upcoming Blu Ray box set. Bring it on I say.

Upon leaving the exhibition, I was once again reminded of what made Twin Peaks so special, and why it retains the place in my heart that it does, and likely always will. But what made me even more happy is how many new fans the show seems to have created since it first aired, and how many other artists have been inspired by it to create something enduring and beautiful themselves. In inspiring people to create new and better art, then maybe Twin Peaks has displayed the most important aspect of its legacy.

All photographs taken by Alicia Friedman. You can find more of her work here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aliciafriedman/

Art from the exhibition can be viewed here http://inthetreesartpreview.blogspot.com/2011/02/weve-got-good-news.html

merchandise from the exhibition can be purchased here: http://inthetreesartpreview.blogspot.com/2011/02/twin-peaks-20th-anniversary-merchandise.html