Landry Butler

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. I Have Nothing to Say and I Am Saying It marks 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.

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Current Projects

Brave New Works Lab at OZ Arts Nashville
https://www.ozartsnashville.org/brave-new-works-lab-2025/

Inglewood Social Club Announces ‘Welcome to Paradise’ Film and Performances at OZ Arts Nashville
RECLUSIVE ART MUSIC COLLECTIVE PLAYS A RECORD THREE SHOWS IN ONE YEAR

Inglewood Social Club (ISC), the Nashville-based underground art music collective, renowned for their spontaneous and unrehearsed musical compositions, is set to captivate audiences with their upcoming film and performance series, “Welcome to Paradise”. Scheduled as part of the Brave New Works Lab 2025 to be held May 15-17 at OZ Arts Nashville, ISC promises an immersive experience into their unique soundscapes and visions.

Formed by a collective of artists and musicians, Inglewood Social Club has dedicated itself to the art of extemporization, crafting narratives that are never rehearsed, repeated, or resolved. Their online recordings and bootlegged Wednesday night sessions have become a staple for listeners seeking authentic and ephemeral musical journeys.

“Welcome to Paradise” marks a significant milestone for ISC, in which the public has a rare opportunity to experience a visually stunning multimedia experience with an abstract, silent black and white film and live accompaniment. Each evening will feature a distinct soundtrack, reflecting the group’s commitment to extemporaneous creation.

Other participants in this years Brave New Works Lab include:
• Windship Boyd & Tumelo Michael Moloi
South African gumboot dance and the step-dance tradition of HBCU’s collide in this explosive, cross-cultural new work featuring dynamic original choreography and expressive live music.
• Stacie Flood-Popp / Found Movement Group
A dozen dancers from Found Movement Group create a highly theatrical new dance work inspired by Hieronymus Bosch’s famous artwork The Garden of Earthly Delights.
• Kourtney “Koko” French
Eight of Nashville’s most talented dancers use powerful Hip-hop choreography to explore the limited nature of time and the ways we all battle to make the most of each moment.

Event Details:
• Dates: May 15 – 17, 2025
• Venue: OZ Arts Nashville, 6172 Cockrill Bend Circle, Nashville, TN 37209
• Time: Doors open at 7:00 PM; performances begin at 8:00 PM
• Tickets: On sale now at https://www.ozartsnashville.org/brave-new-works-lab-2025/

Inglewood Social Club’s music is available on all the best streaming platforms including SoundCloud, Amazon, Spotify, and YouTube.
https://soundcloud.com/inglewoodsocialclub

About Inglewood Social Club:
Nashville-based underground art music collective Inglewood Social Club (ISC), renowned for their spontaneous and unrehearsed musical compositions. Made up of veteran artists and musicians, ISC rarely plays live gigs, preferring instead to record long, improvisational jams which are carefully workshopped into concise, insightful observations that celebrate the absurd life of the Angsty American. These songs are occasionally posted online: ISC’s most recent album is American Rhapsody, a celebration of America and the American Dream through the lens of Thanksgiving.

In 2024, founding member, Landry Butler was honored with the prestigious Tanne Foundation Award, recognizing his contributions to multidisciplinary art. His most recent solo project, a book entitled “I Have Nothing to Say and I Am Saying It”, is both a journal and a conceptual artwork, inviting one to engage with the silence of the page as a canvas for contemplation or creation.

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Landry Butler to Exhibit Toward the Dawn (Vers l’aube) at Customs House Museum
Part of the 2025 Exhibition: Embracing Blackness – Diasporic Realities
https://customshousemuseum.org/exhibitions/crafting-blackness/

Clarksville, Tenn. — Artist Landry Butler will present his latest work, Toward the Dawn (Vers l’aube), in the 2025 multimedia exhibition Embracing Blackness: Diasporic Realities, opening May 10 at the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center in Clarksville, Tennessee. The exhibit, curated by Karlota Contreras-Koterbay and Carlton Wilkinson, explores the inclusive and expansive nature of Blackness, and its capacity to unify and enrich a tapestry of diasporic cultural identities.

Toward the Dawn (Vers l’aube) is a deeply personal and meditative piece created from a spectrum of black-to-gray dreadlocks, shorn from Butler’s 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.

In the words of the curators, the exhibition “revolves around inclusion, assertions of the vital reality of Blackness’ inclusive capacity to embrace cultures, amalgamations of various hues in its veins, intertwining black, brown, yellow, red and white in all its glory … without diminishing their value but rather enriching them to their highest potentials.”

Embracing Blackness: Diasporic Realities is part of a broader series of exhibitions and community engagements linked to The 100 Years History of Black Craft Artists in Tennessee 1920–2022, a research and exhibition initiative led by Tennessee Craft and ETSU BIPOC art historian Karlota Contreras-Koterbay. This four-year endeavor includes public talks, art demonstrations, educational publications, and an image-rich database chronicling the legacy of Black craft artists throughout the state.

Exhibition Dates:
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 10, 2025, 5–7 p.m.
On view through July 27, 2025
Customs House Museum & Cultural Center
Clarksville, Tennessee