Demonstrating his sensibility for storytelling, Point Blank is a notably observant series of works based on ‘quick studies’ of characters, objects, and scenarios created between 2021 and 2022. Reading like a glimpse into Bob Dylan’s visual journal, the collection is infused with a distinct spontaneity, as if capturing fleeting moments or memories. The choice of subjects adds to the series’ intense emotional resonance. Intriguing object studies such as a mirror which displays a set of lips, a saxophonist looking introspectively at his instrument and a cowboy, whose pistol hangs on his belt in front of a rising sun, all provoke our imagination to contemplate the protagonists of his art and the situations they find themselves in. This book features the complete series of Point Blank quick studies alongside accompanying prose, revealing an unfurling story or a series of dreamlike anecdotes pertaining to certain works. Surreal in its manifestation and automatic in its spontaneity, the interplay of words and visuals enlivens his paintings even further.
Author
Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman) is an American singer-songwriter, author, musician, poet, and, of late, disc jockey who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of Dylan's most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when he became an informal chronicler and a reluctant figurehead of American unrest. A number of his songs, such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'", became anthems of the anti-war and civil rights movements. His most recent studio album, Modern Times, released on August 29, 2006, entered the U.S. album charts at #1, making him, at age sixty five, the oldest living person to top those charts. Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature (2016).
