Growing up in the deep south, Drury Bynum’s only exposure to art was watching his aunt paint Louisiana swamp scenes in her tiny kitchen studio.
Her ability to summon rich and detailed worlds by hand prompted him to begin drawing and painting on his own. His public school had no art program, so he practiced drawing faces and figures from magazines, comics, and album covers. Bynum left the south to attend the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1988.
There, he explored the techniques of alla prima painting and drawing figures, portraits, and landscapes. He later shifted to narrative themes, using collage as a way to iterate quickly. The traditional approaches of working directly from life, married with modernist techniques of experimentation and subjective experience, were key factors in Bynum’s artistic development.
In 1997, Bynum received his Master’s Degree from Bowling Green University. His thesis exhibit—a body of large-scale works of backyard scenes featuring brides, photographers, and Baltimore row-houses—revealed a mature stylistic identity. The scenes were colorful, visually dense moments that contained enigmatic narratives that continued to appear in his work in the following years.
The technological shift happening around the internet and the sudden availability of affordable video cameras shifted Bynum’s focus onto filmmaking in the mid-2000’s. He created his own production company, Shine Creative, specializing in innovative, narrative short films for brands.
He made several documentaries focused on artists and entrepreneurs, anticipating a cultural trend for cinematic, behind-the-scenes looks at a creative class that would eventually become today’s influencers. His work as a film director won several awards including Addys, Tellys, Hermes’ and an Emmy nomination.
In 2016, he returned to narrative painting, collage, and portraiture. Another technological wave brought AI to Bynum’s attention in late 2022. It was clear to him that this would have an immense impact on the art world and he tuned in closely to the quickly evolving phenomenon. He recognized AI as a potent tool that can create opportunities for artists—albeit one imagination and guidance from artists in order to produce culturally significant work.
Drury began incorporating AI into his own process, iterating on compositions that he then brings into the studio to deconstruct or to take in new directions as physical pieces. He believes the speed and quality of AI provides a collaborative fluency that is absent of the friction produced by physical materials, and that this type of interaction can be immensely fruitful and full of wonder.
Bynum’s work is characterized by a unique blend of traditional techniques and unusual mixed-media approaches, resulting in pieces that are both visually striking and conceptually rich, collage-based portraits of mysterious, imaginary characters who seem to be shape-shifting into bird-like beings, morphing with cameras and vintage photographs, or otherwise disappearing into clouds of colorful shapes.
These constructions might have been inspired by descriptions of a sci-fi future where humans are combined with artificial intelligence, but imagined in a time way before computers.
As Bynum looks to the future, he is excited to see where his artistic journey will take him, and is committed to using his talents to push the boundaries of what is possible in the world of art.
Name: Drury Bynum
Occupation: Filmmaker/Artist
Website / IG: @drurybynum
Creative Medium: Collage/MixedMedia/Ai
Studio / Work space: Home studio
Obsessive collections: Sketchbooks & journals
Currently reading: I’m Starting To Worry About This Black Box Of Doom by Jason Pargin
Coolest place you’ve ever traveled to: Roma Norte, Mexico City
Hobbies or leisure activities: Cooking and cocktails
Favorite food to eat at home: Braised chicken with olives & lemon
Favorite food to eat out: Always Tacos
Favorite beverage: Spicy Mezcal Margarita
Political leanings: Kamala!
Favorite Baltimore spot to hang out: La Cuchara Happy Hour
Favorite artist: Fairfield Porter
Movie that sums up the current state of your life: The Jerk
Favorite bad habit: Snoozing
Mantra or favorite quote: ‘Failure is not durable.’
Most recent transformational project in the region: Mural project as part of Jamie Campbell’s redesign of 9 W Franklin St., also known as the Bible Society, where she transformed the colossal 3rd floor of a former Bible-making company into a modern, maximalist living space.
This weekend is the closing night for Bynum’s Arcana Flux exhibit at @clovr_collective
Saturday, October 5, 6-10. Come check out new works including prints and short film, Anatomy of a Breakthrough.
2010 Clipper Park Rd, Studio 106 Baltimore, MD 21211.
(Directly behind Woodberry Tavern and Gutierrez Studios.)
