Dylan, the painter
"When I Paint My Masterpiece" – a well-known old Bob Dylan song. We know from rocks most popular troubadour that he is not only strong in poems, songs, memoirs, Chronicles, or the earlier novel, Tarantula, he proved to be strong in prose as well. He even tried acting (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid), directing (Renaldo and Clara), and it is well known that he paints. He painted his own album covers, perhaps the most famous is his Self-portrait.
Dylan’s exhibition opened in Milan Palazzo Real titeled The New Orleans Series.
Dylan often mentioned that his favorite form of self-expression is painting and drawing. His passion formed after his motorcycle accident in 1966, when he was bedridden for several months. Since then he happy draws while touring, composing, writing, poetry, inspired by stimulating a canvas. He had several exhibitions in the United States, including one of the most prestigious New York galleries, the Gagosian, although criticism was quite harsh. He showed his paintings for the first time in Europe in 2007, in the German Chemnitz, Kunst Museum.
The Milan exhibition shows his recent 22 works, the majority of them were based on a photo which is decadent to the 1950s New Orleans. According to Francesco Bonami, the curator of the exhibition, Gauguin and 20th century American figurative painting, including Edward Hopper’s and Rockwell Kent’s impact is felt in the works.
The Italian press had mixed feelings about Dylan’s exhibition. There are some who fear that sooner or later the most prestigious galleries will exhibit celebrities works, only for their name and not for artistic talent.
Dylan did not attend the opening of the exhibition, he just looked at the finished exposition and - typical Dylan - quietly left.
Bob Dylan's past will soon appear in the Coen brothers' latest film. The Inside Llewyn Davis film, which is scheduled to be presented this autumn, it is about living in Greenwich Village in the early 60’s, and the main character, Oscar Isaac, strongly resembles Dylan.
