Dylan fanatics can begin the countdown to his first ever New York Gallery exhibition, entitled "The Asia Series," starting September 20th at Gagosian Gallery. Viewers can expect an expressive yet cryptic rendering of Dylan's travels throughout Japan, China, Vietnam, and South Korea. As the New York Times points out, "Dylanologists will recall that the singer-songwriter played his first shows in China and in Vietnam last spring." Dylan has always managed to weave public experience through his personal narrative, and this collection seems to be no exception.
His work, depicting Asia's people, streets, and architecture, blends personal memory with collective culture and tourism, a painted portrait-meets-photo-op. In a press release, Gagosian spotlighted the work "‘LeBelle Cascade,’ which looks like a riff on Manet’s ‘Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe’ but which is, in fact, a scenographic tourist photo-opportunity in a Tokyo amusement arcade." Perhaps this serves as a warning to Dylanologists against over-analyzing the paintings; it remains to be seen whether they can resist.
'The Asia Series' will be on view at Gagosian Gallery from September 20 until October 22, 2011