Jim Dine (b. 1935)
Born in Cincinnati, Jim Dine studied at the University of Cincinnati and at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts before receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Ohio University in 1957. His reputation in the art world began to grow in 1959 when he, along with Claes Oldenburg and Allan Kaprow, opened a gallery in the Judson Memorial Church (Judson Gallery) in Greenwich Village in New York City and staged a series of theatrical events they called “Happenings.”
While others have often associated his work with the Pop Art movement of the mid-20th century, his fascination with popular imagery and everyday objects has always carried a more personal component. He has extensively explored particular themes in a variety of media- painting, sculpture, printmaking- throughout his career. These themes have acquired the status of personal iconography and he claims them as part of his vocabulary or his “glossary of terms.” Among this iconography are hearts, tools, bathrobes, the Venus de Milo and Pinocchio. They are commonly recognized symbols, figures and objects, which become metaphors for larger concepts, while also functioning as part of his on-going “self-portrait”. As an avid reader, writer and poet, he shares, “language plays a big role in my work and has a big place in my life.”
Dine, renowned for his wit and creativity has a restless, searching intellect that leads him to challenge himself constantly. Over four decades, Dine has produced more than three thousand paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints, as well as performance works, stage and book designs, poetry, and even music. His art has been the subject of numerous individual and group shows and is in the permanent collections of museums around the world.