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Someday my prints will come Jim Dine reinvents the ordinary by KEITH MARCHAND
In the late '50s and early '60s, Jim Dine was a part of an art movement that caught the Abstract Expressionists navel-gazing and proceeded to hijack their cultural spotlight. This batch of wacky young punks became known as the Pop Art movement. Though today Dine refutes any real links to the group, there is no denying that he was catapulted to star status alongside the founders of Pop. Since then, he has forged his own path in an extraordinary range of styles. You see, Dine is extremely adept at (just about) any technique or medium he decides to work with. He is a draughtsman, sculptor, painter, printmaker, set and costume designer, performer and book illustrator. He is comfortable with oils or spray paint, bronze or chicken wire. For Dine, there is no hierarchy among mediums or techniques--all are given equal importance and weight. There are no sacred surfaces. He has been known to use chainsaws, acid, brooms and power tools to make sure that a piece is effective. The use of so many mediums has led to some commonly held misconceptions that Dine is primarily a print-maker or sculptor or painter (depending on one's exposure to his works) but this is certainly not the case. Anyone acquainted with Dine's work will be familiar with his use of recurring images: tools, hearts, skulls, Venuses and bathrobes (just to name a few) show up in his work again and again, and (it is important to note) no two have ever been exactly alike. These ordinary objects act as containers which he fills in order to communicate with the viewer. This is encapsulated in a piece from his exhibition titled "Sitting with Me," in which he presents a man's bathrobe in scarlet, floating bodiless. He seduces the viewer into projecting his or her own feelings onto the object; at the same time, he creates his own atmosphere and emotion through colour and technique. To reinvent the ordinary is to reinvest it with meaning. New Editions featuring prints by Jim Dine is on until Thursday, April 17 at Galerie Bellefeuille, 1367 Greene Avenue, Westmount, 933-4406 |
Prints by artist Jim Dine are showing in town and here's some stuff you should know in order to impress your date, your friends or your probation officer.