BRISBANE.- In an Australian first, an exhibition of the art and cinema of David Lynch will be presented at Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art from 14 March until 7 June 2015.

'David Lynch: Between Two Worlds' is an exclusive to Brisbane 50-year retrospective that considers the artist's practice across all media.

QAGOMA Director Chris Saines said the Gallery was working directly with the renowned American artist, best known as a filmmaker.

'David Lynch first trained as a painter and has maintained a studio practice that reflects a fascination with industry and organic phenomena, subconscious drives and a desire to look beneath the surface, concerns that also permeate his cinema,' said Mr Saines.

'In addition to rarely seen paintings and drawings from the mid 1960s, the exhibition includes lithographs, an important presentation of Lynch's photographs of factories and nudes, recent large-scale paintings, and a complete retrospective of his film, video and television work.

'Details of exclusive events, including an artist in-conversation, public programs and special musical performances, as well as celebrations of the anniversary of television series Twin Peaks 1990–91, will be announced shortly.'

Arts Minister Ian Walker said the Government's Super Star Fund would bring Lynch to Brisbane in March for his first Australian visit, enabling him to host a range of special programs and activities in conjunction with the exhibition.

'It's great to see the Super Star Fund achieving its aim of bringing the best of the best in the arts to Queensland and allowing audiences the rare opportunity to experience international stars and their work,' Mr Walker said.

Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games, Jann Stuckey, said the exhibition, also supported by Tourism and Events Queensland, would be an important visitor drawcard for Queensland next year.

'As the exhibition is exclusive to GOMA, 'Between Two Worlds' will boost cultural tourism, a major contributor to the Queensland economy,' said Ms Stuckey.

The exhibition's curator, José Da Silva, Senior Curator, Australian Cinémathèque, QAGOMA, said 'David Lynch: Between Two Worlds' explores three ideas that connect the artist's practice across art, cinema and music — 'Man and machine', 'The extra-ordinary', and 'Psychic aches' — ideas that open us up to the possibility of finding a deeper reality in our experience of the everyday.

'The exhibition draws on all areas of Lynch's working career to present a thorough and compelling account of his singular vision,' Mr Da Silva said.

A specially-curated program of Lynch's short and feature films, works for television, documentaries and independent projects produced for online platforms are included in the exhibition and will screen at the Gallery's Australian Cinémathèque.

Alongside his filmmaking career, Lynch has worked as a visual artist for 50 years, producing an extensive body of paintings, photography and works on paper that are integral to his overall creative vision.

The QAGOMA exhibition is the largest retrospective of Lynch's practice to date, following his first American museum exhibition 'David Lynch: The Unified Field' at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (2014–15), and European exhibitions 'Dark Splendor: Space, Images, Sound' at the Max Ernst Museum, Brühl, Germany (2010) and 'David Lynch: The Air is on Fire' at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris (2007).

In the mid 1960s, David Lynch trained as a painter at the Corcoran School of Art, Washington, and the Boston Museum School, before studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, where he developed an interest in cinema with Six Men Getting Sick 1967 – a work that uses sculpture and animation to create a 'moving painting'.

In 1970, Lynch relocated to Los Angeles where he studied filmmaking at the American Film Institute Conservatory and developed his debut feature Eraserhead 1977. Since then, Lynch has developed a singular cinematic style with groundbreaking films including The Elephant Man 1980, Blue Velvet 1986, Wild at Heart 1990, Lost Highway 1997, Mulholland Drive 2001 and Inland Empire 2006.