Jim Dine

Jim Dine (b. 1935) was early to join New York’s vibrant art scene, which from the late 1950s and early ‘60s was at the forefront of redefining the field of art. During the ‘50s, Abstract Expressionism and so-called 'Action Painting' dominated American art, but Dine and several of his contemporaries wanted to break away from this established conception of art. He participated in happenings with artists such as John Cage, Allan Kaprow and Claes Oldenburg, and although still quite young, was considered to be one of the most interesting American artists at the time.

Throughout the ‘60s several large museum exhibitions succeeded in defining Pop Art as the new American artistic expression. Dine’s pictures were included in these exhibitions, yet even then he claimed not to want to be seen as a Pop artist. It is easy for us to agree with him when we examine his works. They are often introverted and painterly, although they tend to include elements from everyday life. Simple tools, clothing and practical items are treated as objects for artistic attention, but the pictures are a far cry from those of Andy Warhol and Pop art’s focus on surfaces and mass production. Instead, we can draw parallels to works by artists such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg and their use of everyday objects in art. But Dine is also sometimes compared with British Pop artists such as Peter Blake and R.B. Kitaj, both of whom developed personal painterly expressions.

The painting Fixing the Lights and Objects of My Vanity (1972) demonstrates how much Dine enjoys painting. He is interested in the physical qualities of paint. Here we see how he builds up the canvas with wave-like brush strokes that follow a horizontal movement. The smooth billowing movement is fractured by short vertical lines, both in the form of rectangular colour fields and various objects hanging from hooks screwed into the canvas. Used paintbrushes, a screwdriver, a spoon – all objects from the artist’s immediate environment – become part of the complex, painterly surface. Thus the picture clearly demonstrates a key tendency in Dine’s artistic practice since the ‘50s: he metaphorically transfigures commonplace experience.

Dine’s mundane experiences function as the thematic base for his entire artistic practice, which encompasses a wide range of media. He works with painting, installation, etching and lithography. Yet no matter which media he uses, he keeps a limited yet persistent focus on certain motifs, for instance bathrobes, hearts, extended hands, wrought iron gates and Venus de Milo. Dine works in an expressive style and seems to lean towards themes dealing with the artist as a creative yet lonely individual. As such, we can see his artistic practice both in relation to Pop Art and in relation to the extensive 'Romantic artist' tradition to which Abstract Expressionists also belong. In sum, Fixing the Lights and Objects of My Vanity is about art and the artist; it is not about contemporary life or society.

HBU