Monday, November 19, 2007

Dylan – credible painter or celebrity dabbler?

Dylan’s artwork, currently on display in Chemnitz, Germany, raises the question: is he a credible painter or merely a celebrity dabbler? With a formidable 140 paintings on show, there’s plenty of evidence to assess Bob the visual artist.

Of course, if you’ve spent half a lifetime admiring Zim’s super-abundant creativity - as a songwriter, musician, performer, cultural agenda-setter and, recently, chronicler and radio DJ - it’s difficult to view his paintings objectively, without letting your enthusiasm for his genius in other forms spill over and affect your judgment.

Thanks to the sample of nine paintings now on The Guardian newspaper web site, you can now judge for yourself.

Me? I’m impressed. Perhaps he could walk on water, after all?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/gallery/2007/nov/14/dylan?picture=331263237




Gerry Smith