Jim Dine

JIM DINE : PRINTMAKER

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• published: 09 Oct 2016
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Film by Eric Minh Swenson. Leslie Sacks Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of graphic work by renowned artist, Jim Dine. The exhibition will include a range of iconic imagery from 1973-2010 of hearts, robes and Venuses, as well as early works of figures and tools. This presentation exemplifies the Ohio native’s decades-long affinity for the medium of printmaking and further demonstrates his extraordinary abilities as an innovative printmaker. Unlike many artists who produce editions, printmaking is a deliberate media choice for Jim Dine, enabling him tremendous freedom to explore, experiment and push the limits of the conventional wisdom of the process. Dine’s earliest recorded prints were the product of a ‘happening’, which he staged at Reuben Gallery in New York City in 1960. The Car Crash, 1960 focused upon themes of human suffering, and consisted of five black and white and one color lithograph. In contrast to the oeuvre of recurring imagery that would follow, Dine would never repeat this dark gestural, expressionist imagery again. However, these early editions unmistakably exhibit the veneration Dine holds for master etchers like Dürer, Rembrandt and Picasso. As seen in Four German Brushes (plate 3), 1973, the etching detail is sensitive and meticulous and the plate richly inked. Printmaking is unquestionably a collaborative affair in which Dine relishes.  He has worked with virtually every master printer the world over, printing in every city he visits and printing nearly everyday. He even worked with Picasso’s illustrious master printer, Aldo Crommelynck. Crommelynck was famously appalled by some of Dine’s seemingly outlandish techniques—his use of electric tools and a complete disregard for accepted printmaking practices. But, both artist and master printer must work together, whether in a push-pull manner or a more harmonious union, the two must cooperate to execute the vision. Dine embraces the randomness and accidental nature of the printmaking process. He never sketches prior to printing; all ideas go immediately onto the plate, contributing to the born-at-once quality of his prints. His editions are complex endeavors, often integrating multiple printmaking techniques into a single work. In Dream Venus, 2002 he combines soft-ground etching, lithography and hand stamping. Dine commonly uses electric tools such as jigsaws, chainsaws, dremels and drills. In the large-scale robe Very Picante, 1995 the segments of the robe were cut and composited from a large sheet of cardboard, and then reassembled on the press like a jigsaw puzzle. Fourteen jigsaw pieces were then relief printed in one print run, after which two more plates, cut by chainsaw, were printed. Dine also employs additive elements by hand coloring after printing such as acrylic paint, powdered pigments and watercolor. The integrated result is a dynamic, activated surface and a unique multifaceted composition.Jim Dine’s work is held in numerous esteemed private and public collections including the British Museum, London, the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Tate Modern, London, the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. For more info on Eric Minh Swenson visit his website at thuvanarts.com. His art films can be seen at thuvanarts.com/take1 Eric Minh Swenson also covers the international art scene and his writings and photo essays can be seen at Huffington Post Arts : http://m.huffpost.com/us/author/eric-minh-swenson/