David Byrne: Bulwark of Logic 2004 (2017)

Print: Archival pigment print
Size: 508 x 406 mm (20.00 x 16.00 in)
Edition of 100
This work is signed on a label on the verso

David Byrne, legendary frontman of American band The Talking Heads and author of How Music Works, was born in Dumbarton, Scotland in 1952. Byrne is a multi-intrumentalist most known for his high-energy performances and distinctive, wide-ranging voice. He formed The Talking Heads with fellow RISD student, Chris Frantz, and Frantz's girlfriend, Tina Weymouth, in 1975 while living in New York City. In 1990 he founded the world music record label Luaka Bop, which released music from artists including Os Mutantes, Tom Ze, and Zap Mama.

Byrne's solo career has been broad and multi-disciplinary. Since the 1990s, Byrne has exhibited his visual artwork at numerous galleries including Pace/MacGill Gallery in New York City. In 2006 he released Arboretum, a collection of his philosophical drawings, published by McSweeney's. Byrne's drawings are what he calls 'mental maps of imaginary territory.' Says Byrne, 'if you can draw a relationship, it can exist... the world keeps opening up, unfolding, and just when we expect it to be closed—to be a sealed sensible box—it shows us something completely surprising.' In 2010, Byrne exhibited his piece 'Guitar Pedals,' an installation in which 96 guitar peddles were wired together, at VACANT Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. In 2016, Byrne and collaborator Mala Goankar created four installations as part of an exhibition called 'The Institute Presents: Neurosociety' at Pace Gallery, in which gallery-goers participated in interactive neurological experiments.