Bob Dylan

More than in any other series before, these paintings demonstrate Dylan’s sensibility for storytelling, long celebrated in his song lyrics for which he was awarded a Nobel Prize. All of these paintings evoke stories. We encounter scenes that beckon us to move through and interact with them; his intriguing characters are invitations to ponder the scenarios they confront. Dylan’s delicate still life's are also charged with possibility. A ring in a box provokes us to consider its context. Is this a symbol of proposal, rejection or betrayal? It is full of tension, presented to us from its box.

Supporting the artwork is a series of short stories that accompany them. They transform the paintings as we begin to see them as part of a narrative. One example of this is Stairway to Heaven. In isolation, this painting depicts an interior scene and a staircase. The accompanying text reads:

‘Her room is at the top of the stairs, go up left and then turn to the first door on the right and you-re there – the door is already open.’

The text has transformed the painting from an interior scene to a visual fragment from an unfolding story.

His character studies are similarly enriched by the accompanying text. Vanessa is an intriguing study independently for its emotional intensity. The subject seems melancholic and reflective. Her gaze is focused on something out of view. The text tells us:

‘She knew the other woman in the neighbourhood pitied her – pushing forty and unmarried…She looked out the window from her upstairs art studio at some kids roughhousing on the lawn across the street.’

The text is a key to understanding the painting’s power as a sensitive study of a woman reflecting on the passing of time.

Dylan’s object studies are also furnished with meaning as a consequence of the accompanying text. The Big Clock is painted in isolation, its face is directed towards the viewer, seemingly confronting us:

‘She inherited the clock from her grandfather. It was heavy for its size and allegedly contained a Swiss movement. She swore it was haunted because the alarm would go off unexpectedly, always when she was nervous about something’.

The text makes us look at the clock from the perspective of this protagonist. It is now a haunting object, seemingly with a life of its own. There is a new tension as we anticipate the unexpected ring of the alarm.

This series is planted firmly in the everyday. The characters he portrays are reminiscent of people we may know or might encounter walking down the street. The objects he paints, such as a carton of eggs or an electronic mixer, are familiar to our everyday. As are the views of modest interiors, bridges across streams and woodland paths. These are worlds that are familiar to all of us, encouraging the viewers to project their own lives and stories on to them. They are testament to Dylan’s poetry of the everyday, and his stories of ordinary lives, having just as much power today as they always have.

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