THE
SERI ES
In the autumn of 2008, the National Gallery of Denmark contacted Bob Dylan through his manager and agreed to stage his first major exhibition in Copenhagen. Dylan regarded the Drawn Blank Series as a finished project and embarked on an entirely new series of paintings. It sparked a period of intensive work and creativity as Dylan produced a series of more than forty paintings in less than a year. Never wanting to remain static in a single form of expression, Dylan is constantly experimenting and testing new artistic techniques. Today, Dylan believes that the Drawn Blank Series should not be regarded as representative of his art. He is more interested in directing attention to The Brazil Series; a rich body of work that he feels offers a more accurate reflection of his adventures within pictorial art. Dylan’s life on the road has dictated a transient nomadic existence for the last fifty years. Truly, citizenship has little resonance for Dylan. He is indigenous to everywhere and nowhere, a member of the global community, a child of the world. In short; no roots, incredible wings.
As a result, there is no one location in which he is either a resident nor indeed a tourist; a fact which arguably enables the unique perspectives he captures in his work. His paintings are neither derisive nor sympathetic, rather they are the product of a consummate observer who has no bias, only his presence in the moment to guide his hand. Due to his iconic status and instant recognisability, he is forced to be a voyeur, his interaction with the world around him forcibly passive - he cannot partake actively in the scenes we visit in his art. This context, far from hindering the end result, creates a captivating dynamic whereby the viewer is forced to engage with each piece, in order to view it through Dylan’s eyes. The Brazil Series is an interesting departure from The Drawn Blank Series, and is a product of Dylan’s bravery as an artist. Encouraged by the critical acclaim he had received, notably from such luminaries as John Elderfield (Chief Curator of Paintings & Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York) and Larry Gagosian, he was emboldened to experiment and expand his oeuvre. Despite being universally acknowledged as one of the most culturally relevant individuals of today, Dylan is at his core an artist, imbued with self-doubt and insecurity - his
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