Published at 8:22 AM on June 19, 2008

By Henry Freedland

London gallery shows Bob Dylan art

In 1994, Random House published a small book of Bob Dylan's sketches, called Drawn Blank, to surprisingly little response. It seemed few critics were willing to deal with yet another musician-cum-artist. But when a German gallery director convinced Dylan to turn those sketches into paintings, he took the chance.

This week, with musician-Dylan in the middle of a several month tour, the paintings finally received a proper gallery opening at the Halycon Gallery in London. Dylan told Times Online that the work was done both while on the road and in more stationary studio spaces. The show, which includes Dylan-favorite images of train tracks and women and is entitled "The Drawn Blank Series," will be showing until July 13.

It's been a long time since 1965. "Great paintings shouldn't be in museums," he railed in an interview. And why is that, Bobby D? "Have you ever been in a museum? Museums are cemeteries. Paintings should be on the walls of restaurants ... in men's rooms. Great paintings should be where people hang out." Oh, the times—they are a-changin'.

Related links:
"The Drawn Blank Series" at HalyconGallery.com
BobDylanArt.com
Video tour of "The Drawn Blank Series" at Times Online

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