SAN FRANCISCO, CA – FEBRUARY 11: Bob Dylan is performing at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco, … [+] California on February 11, 1979. (Photo by Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Larry Hulst
The highest purpose of art is to inspire, Bob Dylan once said. What else can you do? What else can you do for anyone but inspire them?
The iconic musician has inspired generations with his music, but what about his artwork? Dylans drawings, paintings and sketches are on view at the Halcyon Gallery in London, in an exhibition calledBob Dylan Editions, which runs until January 31, 2021.
On view are rare, archival and limited-edition artworks by Dylan, featuring works made over the past 12 years. As the artist says in his own words: I was just drawing whatever I felt like drawing, whenever I felt like doing it. The idea was always to do it without affectation or self-reference, to provide some kind of panoramic view of the world as I was seeing it at the time.
Dylan has been an artist since the 1960s, and has a knack for realistic landscapes, from his paintings of rural gas stations to an artwork depicting the Brooklyn Bridge.
On view will be Blue Swallow Motel, Route 66, an artwork by the artist, who has painted the iconic American landscape at night, with florescent-lit signage.
Blue Swallow Motel, Route 66 by Bob Dylan, on view at Halcyon Gallery in London.
bob dylan
Next year, Dylan celebrates his 80th birthday, oddly enough. He has spent many years on the road and his artwork is a testament to that.
Since having his first gallery exhibition in 2007 at the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz in Germany, he has continued to make artwork since the 1960s. It wasn’t until last year, though, that the first museum retrospective was devoted to showcasing Dylans artwork, which was on view at a Shanghai museum.
Dylan has created stunning portraits of the open road, driving through the countryside. Landscapes are certainly his thing, and each painting is a kind of postcard of the artists travels. Some are part of his Drawn Blank series, which trace his life on the road as a touring musician through America, Europe and Asia, as the series captures landmarks, minimal landscapes and portraits crated between 1989 and 1992.
Theres also random moments, whether hes depicting Mac trucks, while at other times, bowls of fruit. There are alo works from The Beaten Path, his pensive depictions of the American landscape, painted in watercolors and acrylic paints, as well as sketches. They suggest a never-ending road trip from diners to retro motel signage, bridges and seascapes, as well as cities lit up at night. One of the most exciting pieces painted by Dylan, as of late, is one called Joshua Tree, Sunrise, from 2019, which shows a flaming sunrise in pinks and yellows among the desert.
As of late, Dylan has been making artwork in quarantine. His latest series is called Mondo Scripto, where he has hadwritten his renowned lyrics on paper alongside a drawing, showing a parallel between songwriting, word play and drawings.
As Dylan wrote in his 2004 memoir, Chronicles: Vol. 1, he has been on a continual journey, an endless open road, for his art.
The road out would be treacherous, and I didnt know where it would lead but I followed it anyway, he wrote. It was a strange world ahead that would unfold, a thunderbolt of a world with jagged lightning edges. Many got it wrong and never did get it right. I went straight into it. It was wide open.
Check out the online version of the Bob Dylan exhibition with Halcon Gallery. The Dylan exhibition is on view at their 29 New Bond Street location until January 31, 2021.read more
Inside Bob Dylan’s New Exhibition In London
