Borderless Art

by Gong Haiying

Bob Dylans first retrospective exhibition of visual artworks “Retrospectrum” opened at the Today Art Museum in Beijing， China on July 25， 2020， which will run through October 18. “Retrospectrum” marks the most comprehensive display of the artists works created over the past five decades， including manuscripts， sketches， watercolors， oil paintings， industrial metal sculptures and video materials， many of which are important works on loan from private collections around the world.

Bob Dylan is a name that cannot be ignored in the cultural history of the United States and even the world in the 20th century. A renowned folk and rock musician， poet and writer， Dylan has received numerous honors including the Grammy， Oscar， and Golden Globe awards， and the Pulitzer Prize. The 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Dylan “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”

Compared with his achievements in music and literature， Dylans paintings received belated public recognition. He began to create visual artworks in the summer of 1966 after he suffered a serious motorbike accident. It was until 2007 that he held his first exhibition of artworks in Germany. Painting helped Dylan see everything differently from the past. In his autobiography Like a Rolling Stone published in 2004， he said： “Not that I thought I was any great drawer， but I did feel like I was putting an orderliness to the chaos around.”

The exhibition “Retrospectrum” features major painting series in Dylans artistic career： Early Sketches， Drawn Blank， New Orleans， Mondo Scripto， Ironworks and The Beaten Path.

Dylans earliest ink sketches present his distinctive vision of himself and the world starting from 1973. Works from Drawn Blank are inspired by his world tour between 1989 and 1992. His metal sculptures reveal his childhood memories： Growing up in a mining town in Minnesota， he was fascinated with iron and steel and industrial machinery. The Beaten Path reflects what he thinks the United States looks like by depicting commonly seen landscapes like roads， train tracks， streets， service stations， and movie theaters.

The exhibition also enables visitors to experience Dylans artworks in specific scenes. His 70-year artistic career is condensed into an 8-minute opening film. Contextual scenes are created reproducing the famous venue Café Wha？， located in New Yorks Greenwich Village， where Bob Dylan made his debut. In this uniquely immersive environment， visitors can watch the film projected onto a screen where Dylan in his twenties sings the classic song “Blowing in the Wind” and see replica vintage photos and posters lining the walls. Dylans acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize and the famous music video “Subterranean Homesick Blues” are also included in the exhibition.

Bob Dylans journey of artistic creation and exploration never stops. Earlier this year， 79-year-old Dylan released a new song on social media platforms， “Murder Most Foul，” about the assassination of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy. This 17-minute song hit No. 1 on the Billboard music chart.

Art is borderless. Like his music and poetry， Bob Dylans visual artworks relate to the audience in a way unique to the artist. Cui Jian， often called “the father of Chinese rock，” said at the exhibition： “What Dylan cares about and presents is totally different from what we normal musicians expect. He is a versatile artist of multiple identities.” The best way to better understand Dylan， a trailblazer who breaks the limitations of an artist and redefines the old rules in many ways， is to immerse yourself in his works.