Jim Dine was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 16 1935. He first earned respect in the art world with his 'Happenings'. Pioneered with artists Claes Oldenburg and Allan Kaprow, in conjunction with musician John Cage, the 'Happenings' were chaotic performance art that was a stark contrast with the more sombre mood popular in the New York art world at the time.
In the early 1960s, Dine's return to painting retained a theatrical quality in the dramatic placement of actual objects from everyday life, either attached to the painted surface or placed before it to set up an interaction among the elements. These provided commercial as well as critical success, but left Dine unsatisfied. In 1962 Dine's work was included, along with Roy Lichtenstein , Andy Warhol , Robert Dowd, Phillip Hefferton, Joe Goode, Ed Ruscha, and Wayne Thiebaud, in the historically important and ground-breaking New Painting of Common Objects at the Norton Simon Museum. This exhibition is historically considered one of the first "Pop Art" exhibitions in America.
Although he has been called a Pop artist, his aesthetic is far more within the tradition of Abstract Expressionism, Dada and Neo-Surrealists. The objects he uses are either personal, such as his own clothes, or newly purchased, as in the case of new shovels or tools. Nor is the object presented as an entity; instead, Dine places it within a painterly environment that has personal connotations for him.
In 1967 Dine moved to London where he spent the next four years developing his art. Returning to the United States in 1971, he focused on several series of drawings. In the 70's, he began producing works in series, representing three-dimensional objects such as the robe, tools, or heart that have become his own icons. In the 1980s, his interest in objects evolved towards the creation of sculpture.
In the 1980s sculpture resumed a prominent place in his art. In the time since then there has been an apparent shift in the subject of his art from man-made objects to nature.
In the early 1960s, Dine's return to painting retained a theatrical quality in the dramatic placement of actual objects from everyday life, either attached to the painted surface or placed before it to set up an interaction among the elements. These provided commercial as well as critical success, but left Dine unsatisfied. In 1962 Dine's work was included, along with Roy Lichtenstein , Andy Warhol , Robert Dowd, Phillip Hefferton, Joe Goode, Ed Ruscha, and Wayne Thiebaud, in the historically important and ground-breaking New Painting of Common Objects at the Norton Simon Museum. This exhibition is historically considered one of the first "Pop Art" exhibitions in America.
Although he has been called a Pop artist, his aesthetic is far more within the tradition of Abstract Expressionism, Dada and Neo-Surrealists. The objects he uses are either personal, such as his own clothes, or newly purchased, as in the case of new shovels or tools. Nor is the object presented as an entity; instead, Dine places it within a painterly environment that has personal connotations for him.
In 1967 Dine moved to London where he spent the next four years developing his art. Returning to the United States in 1971, he focused on several series of drawings. In the 70's, he began producing works in series, representing three-dimensional objects such as the robe, tools, or heart that have become his own icons. In the 1980s, his interest in objects evolved towards the creation of sculpture.
In the 1980s sculpture resumed a prominent place in his art. In the time since then there has been an apparent shift in the subject of his art from man-made objects to nature.
