This weekend marks the 60th anniversary of Bob Dylan’s legendary concert at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall, where a heckler branded him “Judas” for supposedly abandoning his folk roots in favour of electric guitar and backing band.
Coinciding with this anniversary, Bob Dylan’s critically acclaimed retrospective exhibition, Retrospectrum, will open at Castle Fine Art Manchester this weekend, marking the first time this celebrated collection has been exhibited in the city.
The exhibition will feature 30 original artworks – drawings, lyrics, ironworks, paintings on canvas and works on paper – alongside a selection of limited-edition works from Dylan’s major series including The Drawn Blank Series, Ironworks, The Beaten Path, Route 66,Mondo Scripto, Deep Focus and his latest collection, Point Blank, which debuted in 2025.
Bob Dylan: Retrospectrum previously showcased at the MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Art, Rome (2022/23), the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, Miami (2021/22), and at Modern Art Museum (MAM), Shanghai, China (2019/2020).
Retrospectrum has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people around the world and reveals another dimension of Dylan’s restless creativity – one that translates his poetic and observational vision into striking visual form. Together, the works will offer audiences a rare opportunity to experience the breadth of Dylan’s artistic achievement beyond music.
Free to the public, the exhibition opens Saturday May 16, exclusively at Castle Fine Art, 12-14 King Street Manchester.
