- Born: Memphis (Shelby County)
- Active: Nashville (Davidson County)
- Region: Middle
- Mediums: Mixed media
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Landry Butler
Toward the Dawn (Vers l’aube) is a deeply personal and meditative piece created from a spectrum of black-to-gray dreadlocks, shorn from my own head over a period of more than three decades. Affixed with linen thread to canvas, the 16×20-inch work evokes the tonal gradation of black-and-white photography and the symbolic language of the I Ching. The piece stands as a celebration of multiplicity — of culture, memory, and form — through the intimate medium of the artist’s own body.
Landry Butler is a multidisciplinary American artist whose work spans visual art, spoken word, and music, drawing favorable comparisons to Jandek, Laurie Anderson, Dr. Eugene Chadbourne, and They Might Be Giants. Deeply influenced by the existential and avant-garde philosophies of Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, John Cage, and Mark Rothko, Butler’s genre-defying creations explore themes of transformation, personal growth, and self-actualization within a society steeped in alienation, fear, and consumerism.
In 2024, Butler received the prestigious Tanne Foundation Award, recognizing his impactful contributions to multidisciplinary art. As a founding member and master wordsmith of the underground art music collective Inglewood Social Club, he has been at the forefront of innovative art music. His recent book, “I Have Nothing to Say and I Am Saying It” marked Butler’s return to publishing, his first book since 2010’s “Fire Walk”, a compelling collection of photographs and poetry. In addition to his literary and musical pursuits, Butler has showcased his acting talents, portraying Londin Hyatt in FIX, Nashville’s Original Rehab Rock Opera and Dr. Abraham Prince in the award-winning film FOGG: Diary of a Sociopath.
https://www.landrybutler.com/about
CRAFTING BLACKNESS 
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