Music
Did Bob Dylan just recreate the paintings in his latest New York exhibit from other photographs?
by Nicole Villeneuve
September 27, 2011
Some questions are being raised about the source inspirations for some of the works in Bob Dylan’s latest art exhibition “The Asia Series,” currently at the Gagosian Gallery in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
The New York Times points to a number of instances of what appears to be replication without acknowledgement.
According to the Times, the gallery pointed to an interview with Dylan in its exhibition catalog where he states the following:
“I paint mostly from real life. It has to start with that. Real people, real street scenes, behind the curtain scenes, live models, paintings, photographs, staged setups, architecture, grids, graphic design. Whatever it takes to make it work. What I’m trying to bring out in complex scenes, landscapes, or personality clashes, I do it in a lot of different ways. I have the cause and effect in mind from the beginning to the end. But it has to start with something tangible”
But as the story points out, Dylan fan site Expecting Rain has noticed quite a few similarities between Dylan’s work and other existing work. For instance, the painting on the far right in the above photo is almost an exact replica of this Henri Cartier-Bresson photo.
On Monday, a press representative for the Gagosian Gallery said in a statement, “While the composition of some of Bob Dylan’s paintings are based on a variety of sources, including archival, historic images, the paintings’ vibrancy and freshness come from the colors and textures found in everyday scenes he observed during his travels.” Dylan’s camp did not resond to requests for comment.
Check out the full story here.
