Positively Bob Dylan » Art

When Bob Met Woody

Mike Hobo — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:56:14 +0000

The first-ever picture book on Bob Dylan will be published in May, just in time for Dylan’s 70th birthday. NY Times-bestselling author Gary Golio’s second book for kids (ages 8-12), “When Bob Met Woody: The Story of the Young Bob Dylan” follows him from his beginnings in the cold North Country of Minnesota in the 1950s to the streets of New York City, where he arrives at 19, hoping to find and meet his hero Woody Guthrie. The inspiring story about a young man’s passion for music and the importance of personal heroes has been illustrated by award-winning artist Marc Burckhardt. Golio’s poetic text and Burckhardt’s iconographic paintings capture the power and tenderness of their meeting in words and images that conjure an era when the times they were a-changin’.

Visit garygolio.com and marcart.net for more.

When Bob Met Woody: The Story of the Young Bob Dylan
Written by Gary Golio
Illustrated by Marc Burckhardt
Published by Little, Brown
40 pages
$17.99 hardcover
ISBN 13: 978-0-316-11299-4

Bob Dylan oil painting by Stanley Silver

Mike Hobo — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 07:49:24 +0000

Bob Dylan is the subject of yet another artwork. The oil painting, named after Dylan’s all-time-classic “Like a Rolling Stone” from 1965, has been created by Stanley Silver, an artist from Los Angeles, who’s collectors include, George Clooney and David and Courtney Cox Arquette. His art has been shown at some of the most prominent galleries and museums in the U.S., recently he was featured at Blythe Projects in Culver City. His work has also been named the “official art” for many of sports most prestigious events including the World Series, NHL All-Star Game, and New York Marathon.
Growing up in Los Angeles, surrounded by Hollywood stars and champion athletes, Silver developed an intense interest in capturing life through his art. It spotlights the impact of sport and celebrity on our culture.
You can visit the artist’s website at stanleysilver.com, or follow him on facebook or twitter.

Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash painting

Mike Hobo — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:47:42 +0000

New York artist Jason Gluskin, recently produced a tribute to Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, dubbed Girl From North Country, acrylic 18” x 24”. Inspired by the 1969-70 era when the two collaborated, the painting showcases Cash and Dylan playing music together in the American countryside.
“I’ve been listening to a lot of Johnny Cash and wanted create a peaceful, country-filled landscape… something Americana in style.” said Gluskin. “Then (Dylan’s album) Nashville Skyline came back into my music rotation. Even though it was probably only a brief time the two worked together it must have been a magical moment. The harmony of their voices is simply riveting.”
Jason’s painting reflects his impressions of Rock, Jazz, Blues, Pop, Country, Punk and more. Some compositions are representations of real musicians, including one titled, When I Paint My Masterpiece featuring The Band with Bob Dylan. It was profiled in The Bands’ bass player Rick Danko’s website.
“Music fills my world. Certain songs or albums will strike a chord or emotion that I need to project visually.” Gluskin paints from video footage of his favorite musicians to capture their full persona.
You can visit the artist’s website at www.jasongluskin.com.

If you are interested in Dylan’s recording session with Johnny Cash, you might want to check out the Bootleg “The Dylan/Cash Sessions”. The only officially released song from these sessions was “Girl from the North Country”, you can find it on 1969′s “Nashville Skyline”.

Drawn Blank Series 2009

Mike Hobo — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:16:32 +0000

Bob Dylan’s Drawn Blank Series of drawings 2009 is now exhibited at Breeze Gallery in Scotland. These pieces of art will not be released in the USA and are highly collectable. The eight new limited edition standard format graphics are hand-signed by Bob Dylan! They are being sold on paper only for £1250 or framed for £1495. The complete set of eight, presented in a special edition box is available for £9250.

If you are interested in owning one of those rare pieces of art you should hurry up, for sure they will be sold out quickly.- Visit this page to view, reserve or buy the artworks.

Limited Edition Swiss Watch & Memorabilia Exhibition

Mike Hobo — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:47:31 +0000

The free lunchtime concerts of this year’s 12th Annual Oris Spirit of Jazz Concert Series will coincide with an exhibit celebrating the music of Bob Dylan. The exhibition of rare Bob Dylan memorabilia and photographs, including original posters and a selection of original album covers, will be on display at the Tourneau TimeMachine Exhibit Hall on 57th & Madison Avenue in New York from now on through August.

Exhibit hall viewing hours are 10:00 AM-6:00 PM on Mon – Wed; Fri and Sat. 10:00 AM-7:00 PM on Thursdays and from 11:30 AM-5:30 PM on Sundays. The displayed items are provided by ICON Collectibles of Sony Music, who offer original music memorabilia art prints for sale. You can browse many items online and buy them on their website.

The Spirit of Jazz Concert Series is presented by Oris Swiss Watches along with WGBO-Jazz 88. Since 1997, Oris has created a series of Limited Edition watches, each one dedicated to jazz and blues legends. This year Oris honors Bob Dylan with an Oris Limited Edition Timepiece, limited to 3,000 pieces worldwide.

New Dylan exhibition in Berlin

Mike Hobo — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:55:06 +0000

Egbert Baqué Contemporary Art Gallery in Berlin opens the exhibition “A Tribute to Bob Dylan” on March 28. Eleven artists approach the subject in very different ways: through portrait paintings, songs, lyrics, visual elements, related literature or other representations of an era.
Egbert Baqué has always been interested in Bob Dylan. Ever since founding the gallery, every year he has been hosting a Bob Dylan birthday party with a solo concert “Baqué Plays Dylan”. The current exhibition is taking place concurrently with Dylan’s European tour and the release of his new studio album “Together Through Life”, which will be released on April 28.

BOB
Eine Hommage an Bob Dylan
A Tribute to Bob Dylan

Abetz & Drescher
Pia Arnström
Walter Bortolossi
Selket Chlupka
Claus Feldmann
Ivar Kaasik
Heike Kelter
René Luckhardt
Wolfgang Neumann
Tim Plamper

March 28 until June 6, 2009

UPDATE: Video on the exhibition, presented by Egbert Baqué (in German)

Bob Dylan poetry special

Mike Hobo — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:30:48 +0000

The poetry community writerslounge.net is currently featuring Bob Dylan in their first poetry special. Registered writers can upload and publish their Dylan-related poem for free. You can post your personal appreciation in the form of a poem, just like Dylan himself did in 1962 for one of his idols, Woody Guthrie, in “Song to Woody”. Or you can submit a poem or even song lyrics that you might have written in reference to Dylan’s life or work.- Participate here!
In cooperation with writerslounge.net the best poem(s) – that’s the ones that receive the highest rating by readers – will also be published and promoted on positively-bobdylan.com.

Dylan’s second exhibition of original paintings

Mike Hobo — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:48:18 +0000

As the Bob Dylan magazine ISIS reports in its latest issue, there will be an exhibition of original paintings and limited edition prints by Bob Dylan from 14 June 2008. The exhibition will include new, previously unseen works. It will take place at London’s Halcyon Gallery in Mayfair, one of Europe’s leading galleries for contemporary art in its 25th anniversary.

Bob Dylan’s interest in painting was probably influenced by artist Suze Rotolo, Bob’s girlfriend in the early 1960s. Examples of his early works can be found on the covers of his albums of “Self Portrait” (1970) and “Planet Waves” (1974), but only recently he agreed to a very first official exhibition at the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz (Chemnitz Art Gallery) in Germany from October 2007 until February 2008, entitled “The Drawn Blank Series Watercolor and Gouache Paintings Exhibition”.
The initial idea for that came from a book of drawings and sketches done by Dylan from 1989 to 1992, which had been published under the title “Drawn Blank” by Random House in 1994.

You can read the official press release by Columbia Records here, or take a look at some of the paintings on this page of the Guardian website.

Rare vintage Dylan photos exhibited

Mike Hobo — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 16:00:33 +0000

The Steven Kasher Gallery in New York is currently hosting an exhibition of Fred McDarrah’s photographs from the 60′s and 70′s. Among the photos are 6 very rare original gelatin silver prints of Bob Dylan.
The vintage photographies have an average size of 8″x10″ and range in price from $3,000 to $4,000.

“Fred W. McDarrah: Artists and Writers of the 60s and 70s” celebrates the former Village Voice photographer’s 80th birthday. It is the first ever gallery exhibition surveying McDarrah’s work, and the first exhibition ever curated from his entire archive of published and never-before-seen prints.

Fred W. McDarrah was the primary photographer and picture editor at “The Village Voice” during that newspaper’s first thirty years (and he is still with The Voice as Consulting Picture Editor). His pictures were the graphic expression of the United States’ first alternative weekly as it recorded the most vibrant decades of New York City.

Besides Dylan the exhibition also shows iconic images of Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsberg, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Lou Reed, Jack Kerouac, Martin Scorsese and Elvis among many others. It can be visited through January 6, 2007.

Steven Kasher Gallery

“The Times They Are A-Changin’” rocks Broadway

Mike Hobo — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 16:06:40 +0000

Come gather round Dylan fans! “The Times They Are A-Changin’” is a new Bob Dylan inspired circus playing at the Brooks Atkinson theatre on Broadway. A standing ovation greeted the performers at a packed preview performance on September 30.
There was magic in the air from start to finish. The audience was more sedate at the beginning, but there was appreciative hootin’ and hollering that grew.
Eric Clapton made a surprise appearance as he was in The Big Apple for his concert tour. A spotlight shined on Clapton who was playing guitar with the theater company band in a balcony above the stage. I was dancing next to the stage and Clapton imitated my move! He had an amused facial expression and I’m sure mine matched his. Amazing how 30 seconds is likely to stay with me forever!

“Times” will mainly attract Dylan fans as it strings together 26 back to back songs throughout the one hour and a half show. I think this play might also appeal to the poets and dreamers out there, but not to the theater-going set accustomed to a strong story line with the usual dialogue. The story line may be the weakest part of the show for those lacking a love for poetry. It is about a circus family and their personal struggles. There is no talking throughout the show, but the lyrics tell the story.

The song selection is fabulous and spans Dylan’s five decade career. It included some of my all-time favorites, such as “Just Like A Woman”, “Desolation Row”, “On A Night Like This”, “Forever Young”, “I’ll be Your Baby Tonight”, “Mr. Tambourine Man”, “Blowing In The Wind”, etc. I won’t give them all away, but there wasn’t a miss in the group.

Twyla Tharp has choreographed a program of acrobatics and dancing that dazzles and breathes new life into deeply poetic lyrics that have withstood the test of time already. Kudos to the top three actors, Michael Arden, Thom Sesma and Caren Lyn Manuel. They had lovely voices and invoked emotion that was moving. Dylan has said publicly that he never imagined a play could capture the lyrics of his songs as this does.

Let’s face it, Dylan is at the top of his game considering his latest CD. Modern Times was released and skyrocketed to number one on the charts. He’s one of the best songwriters of all time. May the “Times They Are A-Changin’” soon shake your windows and rattle your walls! This is a must-see for all Dylan fanatics. Even if you’ve never listened to Dylan, this is a stimulating entree into his varied song catalogue.

(By Maureen Shames)

The Times They Are A-Changin’ Musical (Wikipedia)