Jim Dine

Jim Dine
"Pale Self"

Jim Dine
tool drawing

“I grew up with tools. I came from a family of people who sold tools, and I’ve always been enchanted by these objects made by anonymous hands.”  (Jim Dine  6/16/35 -  )

I have long been a fan of Jim Dine's work.
When I was an undergrad I took an Art of the 60's Class and chose Dine to write my artist paper about.
While most of us are familiar with his heart paintings it is his bathrobe paintings and tool drawings that I find most inspirational.  When I wrote that paper many years ago I remember quoting him as saying (and I paraphrase here) something like 'I like to have something to hang my hat on.'  This explains his long time use of tools, birds, hearts, and clothing that developed into his recognizable visual vocabulary.  His choice of simple concrete images is both autobiographical and open to individual interpretation.

Dine's work spans several art movements and styles including Pop Art, Happenings, Conceptual Art, Performance Art.
He is a Painter, Printmaker, Sculptor, and a Poet.
While art critics put his work in the Pop Art arena, he considers it to be more closely aligned with Robert Rauschenberg's and Jasper John's work that questions the power of iconic symbols rather than just celebrating these object/ideas.

For those of you who know my work and the use of dress imagery are sure to see how and why
 I consider Jim Dine to be one of my Muses.

You can read more about Jim Dine and see more images of his work here.