The art of a great singer-songwriter…

Published on Friday 24 October 2008 22:26

TRAIN tracks stretching into the distance. Hotel bedrooms, trucks, yachts, a view across the bay. A bearded man against a swirling sky, in bright colours simply drawn, with echoes of Matisse or Van Gogh.

They are easy on the eye, but if they were not by perhaps the most iconic singer-songwriter of modern times, would you give them a second look?

Paintings by Bob Dylan, based on sketches made on the road, are to go on show in Edinburgh.

The Drawn Blank Series exhibition is described by the poet laureate, Andrew Motion, as "a significant independent achievement and a fascinating extrapolation of themes and images which haunt his music."

With more than 100 works, it is the biggest collection of Dylan's art ever seen.

The city's culture leader, Councillor Deidre Brock, said: "This is a fantastic opportunity to experience the artistic creativity of one of the world's most acclaimed and popular songwriters. It's definitely one to see for anyone with an interest in the culture of our times."

The pictures were on show at a London gallery this summer. One critic wrote: "Dylan's art shares with his lyrics a sense of heightened awareness." But he added: "If you saw this work in the Royal Academy summer show, you wouldn't give it a second look."

The City Art Centre manager, Ian O'Riordan, said: "As soon as you know it's Dylan, one looks at it from a slightly different angle. But it is intrinsically interesting."

Dylan's artwork appeared on the cover of his 1970 album, Self Portrait. Drawings from tours in Europe, Asia and America first went on show in a gallery in the mid-1990s.

The originals were lost, but last year Dylan used surviving scans to make a series of paintings, often producing several brightly-coloured versions of the same drawing.

The exhibition opens at the City Art Centre in late January.