• The History of the World in Dingbats Drawings & Words David Byrne is written in gold font on a red fabric cover.
  • The book is open to two pages with the introduction written in black font on both.
  • The book is open to two pages with two black and white drawings by the artist on both. The left page says "Cellular Awareness."
  • The book is open to two pages. The left page says Part Three Bridge to Mind and the right page has a black and white drawing of a ladder leading to the top of a persons head.
  • The History of the World in Dingbats Drawings & Words David Byrne is written in gold font on a red fabric cover.
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David Byrne: A History of the World in Dingbats

$39.95
$39.95

The phenomenally creative musician and filmmaker David Byrne presents new artwork that explores daily life in surprising ways, with unique reflections on shared human experiences - a book for our time from a highly influential artist.

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Through striking and humorous figurative drawings, the iconic artist and musician David Byrne depicts daily life in intriguing ways. His illustrations, created while under quarantine, expand on the dingbat, a typographic ornament used to illuminate or break up blocks of text, to explore the nuances of life under lockdown and evoke the complex, global systems the pandemic cast in bright light. Edited and designed by Alex Kalman in close collaboration with Byrne, this unique book reflects on shared experiences and presents history as a story that is continually undergoing revision.
As featured in The New York Times, T Magazine, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Publication details

Contributors: David Byrne, Alex Kalman
Publisher: Phaidon
Publication date: 2022
Hardcover
160 pages: 115 color images
5 7/8 × 8 1/4 inches
The History of the World in Dingbats Drawings & Words David Byrne is written in gold font on a red fabric cover.
The book is open to two pages with the introduction written in black font on both.
The book is open to two pages with two black and white drawings by the artist on both. The left page says "Cellular Awareness."
The book is open to two pages. The left page says Part Three Bridge to Mind and the right page has a black and white drawing of a ladder leading to the top of a persons head.
The History of the World in Dingbats Drawings & Words David Byrne is written in gold font on a red fabric cover.

David Byrne

David Byrne was raised in Baltimore where he briefly attended the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 1971 after transferring from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence.

Byrne studied photography, performance, and video production at MICA. In 1975 Byrne co-founded the group Talking Heads, who in the 80s introduced an innovative visual approach to their performances.

Learn more about the artist