Graham Dolphin, 99 x Ninety Nine Year Blues (detail), 2007



74. 99 YEAR BLUES BY JULIUS DANIELS, 1927

REMIX: GRAHAM DOLPHIN, 99 X NINETY NINE YEAR BLUES (JULIUS DANIELS), 2007

This desperately bleak song is a classic blues track, charting a crime, trial and subsequent long imprisonment. Lines are often repeated and words frequently rhymed to emphasise the seemingly unending nature of his sentence. Dolphin’s work focuses on the repetition and painstaking labour, meticulously handwriting the lyrics in small lettering, ninety nine times across a single sheet of paper. Each complete set of lyrics is separated by a line space to create an irregular pattern that sprawls down the page.

Based in Newcastle, Dolphin works with film, drawings and collages, re-appropriating and manipulating objects, icons and words from the music and fashion worlds with immaculate and meticulous detail. Recent solo shows include BALTIC in Gateshead, mima in Middlesbrough, Seventeen in London, and Stellan Holm in New York.

www.grahamdolphin.co.uk