Dylan’s Pastel Paintings on Display at Butler May 17
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – An exhibition of pastel works by Bob Dylan opens May 17 at The Butler Institute of American Art, 524 Wick Ave.
The exhibition by the musician, titled “Face Value, was first seen at the National Portrait Gallery in London. It will be on display through July 12 in the museum’s Flora B. Giffuni Gallery.
An event to celebrate the exhibition takes place Sunday from 1-3 pm at the museum; Dylan will not be in attendance.
In announcing the exhibition, the Butler quoted Dylan as stating, “I’m pretty much interested in people, histories, myth, and portraits; people of all stripes.”
This philosophy is echoed in the portraits of ordinary, non celebrity, subjects included in Face Value, the museum said. The exhibition is “a part of Dylan’s life-long passion for creating in many formats — as singer/songwriter, author, film director, actor, radio broadcaster and visual artist.”
Among the solo art exhibitions by Dylan are the Drawn Blank Series, shown in Germany and London (2007-8), and the Brazil Series, shown at the National Gallery of Denmark (2010). The Asia Series and Revisionist Art: Thirty Works by Bob Dylan were presented at Gagosian Gallery in New York City in 2011 and 2013, respectively.
Also in 2013, a group of oil paintings by Dylan, titled The New Orleans Series, were exhibited at the Palazzo Reale in Milan and the exhibition Face Value was seen at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Pictured: Musician Bob Dylan with his dog in his art studio. Date of the photograph not provided.
Here is Dylan’s official biography, as provided by the Butler:
Born Robert Allen Zimmerman on 24 May 1941 in Duluth, Dylan grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota. He took the name of “Bob Dylan” in homage to the poet Dylan Thomas. His father was a Standard Oil Company worker and moved the family to Hibbing, Minnesota where Dylan taught himself to play the piano and guitar and formed several rock bands.
Dylan moved to New York in 1960 and quickly became immersed in the music world. The New York Times gave him a positive review for one of his performances in 1961, and thereafter Dylan was able to sign a recording contract with Columbia Records.
His first album was released in 1962, but it was the 1963 release of The Freewheelin Bob Dylan that marked Dylan as an original talent. (The album included Blowin’ in the Wind and A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.) Dylan’s next album, The Times They Are A-Changin secured his reputation as a music innovator.
Dylan tired of being type-cast as a folk-singer of the protest movement and, in 1964, he released the album Another Side of Bob Dylan, which was less politically motivated. Dylan continued to try new styles, and in 1965 Bringing It All Back Home was released. Over the next three decades,he continued to reinvent himself, producing some of his most innovative work.
Dylan branched out into film, and in 1973 appeared in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Music was the most memorable contribution Dylan made to the film with the sound track Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.
In 1974, after having suffered a near-fatal motorcycle accident, Dylan released Planet Waves, his first number one album. Blood on the Tracks and Desire also reached number one status. In
-more
-21979, Dylan declared himself a born-again Christian, which inspired the song Slow Train, which won Dylan his first Grammy Award.
In 1989, Dylan was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and, in 1997 he became the first rock star ever to receive Kennedy Center Honors.
In 1997 the album,Time Out of Mind‘, won Dylan three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. In 2000, he recorded the single Things Have Changed‘, for the soundtrack of the film Wonder Boys’ which won Dylan a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Original Song. This was followed by the album Love and Theft released on 11 September 2001 under the name Jack Frost. It was critically well received and earned Dylan several Grammy Award nominations.
Dylan returned to Christianity for his 2003 CD project Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan. In that same year, he played the central character in the film Masked & Anonymous which also starred Jeff Bridges and Penelope Cruz. In 2004, he published the first installment of his autobiography titled Chronicles: Volume I which reached second on The New York Times best seller list. Dylan made an appearance in the Martin Scorsese-directed film biography about him, which first aired in 2005. The accompanying soundtrack to this film featured some unreleased songs from Dylan’s early career.
On 3 May 2006, hosted the weekly Theme Time Radio Hour. He recorded his 100th show in 2009 with the theme Goodbye. That same year, he released the album Modern Times which won two Grammy awards.
The award-winning film biography based on Dylan called I’m Not There starring Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger and Richard Gere was released in 2007. Soon after, triple CD Dylan, which incorporated his entire musical career, was released.
His next album Together Through Life (2009) was followed by Christmas record Christmas in the Heart.
In 2010, Dylan was awarded the National Medal of Art by the United States Government, an honor that was presented by President Obama.
Dylan married Sara Lowndes in 1965. They had four children together, divorcing in 1977. He married Carolyn Dennis in 1986; the couple had a daughter, before they divorced in 1992.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
