Jim Dine
September 2004
Jim Dine has always produced prints as a parallel activity to his other artwork. As a student in the fifties he experimented with various print techniques such as drypoint, etching and lithography and in 1960, he published his first prints, Car Crash. In the early sixties New York was a hotbed for young talented artists such as Dine, Allan Kaprow and Claes Oldenburg, all of whom became renowned for their participation in 'Happenings' (live artistic events/ performances). Dine and Oldenburg particularly became associated with riotous events at the Judson Gallery.
In the summer of 1962 Dine met Tatyana Grosman of Universal Limited Art Editions, New York (ULAE) and with her published twenty-three lithographic editions. Some of the subject matter in these prints, such as household tools and hearts, went on to become Dine's future iconography.
1966 saw Dine in 'Swinging London' and he soon became caught up in the flourishing print-making activity at Editions Alecto and Kelpra Studio. It was here that his first portfolio, A Tool Box, was produced, printed by master printer, Chris Prater. The series contains a plethora of complex images taken from industrial design magazines and archaic engineering text-books in addition to images like Donald Duck, which refer to Dine's American upbringing. The later prints of the series tend to focus on one image of 'tools', giving the subject matter an iconic feel. Surrounded by tools from an early age (both Dine's grandfather and father owned hardware stores) the artist recalls, 'the tools were always available for me to play with… It wasn't or isn't the craftsmanship that interests me, but the juxtaposition of tools.' (1)
A year after completing A Tool Box, Dine decided to move to London where he stayed for four years. During that time Dine built up a relationship with Editions Alecto, especially Paul Cornwall-Jones. In 1968 Cornwall-Jones established Petersburg press with whom Dine was later to produce some of his major series of prints, including Picture of Dorian Grey (1968), Thirty Bones of My Body (1972), and Five Paintbrushes (1973).
1. Jim Dine, (Centre d'Arts Plastiques Contemporains, Bordeaux. May-July, 1975), no pagination
In the summer of 1962 Dine met Tatyana Grosman of Universal Limited Art Editions, New York (ULAE) and with her published twenty-three lithographic editions. Some of the subject matter in these prints, such as household tools and hearts, went on to become Dine's future iconography.
1966 saw Dine in 'Swinging London' and he soon became caught up in the flourishing print-making activity at Editions Alecto and Kelpra Studio. It was here that his first portfolio, A Tool Box, was produced, printed by master printer, Chris Prater. The series contains a plethora of complex images taken from industrial design magazines and archaic engineering text-books in addition to images like Donald Duck, which refer to Dine's American upbringing. The later prints of the series tend to focus on one image of 'tools', giving the subject matter an iconic feel. Surrounded by tools from an early age (both Dine's grandfather and father owned hardware stores) the artist recalls, 'the tools were always available for me to play with… It wasn't or isn't the craftsmanship that interests me, but the juxtaposition of tools.' (1)
A year after completing A Tool Box, Dine decided to move to London where he stayed for four years. During that time Dine built up a relationship with Editions Alecto, especially Paul Cornwall-Jones. In 1968 Cornwall-Jones established Petersburg press with whom Dine was later to produce some of his major series of prints, including Picture of Dorian Grey (1968), Thirty Bones of My Body (1972), and Five Paintbrushes (1973).
1. Jim Dine, (Centre d'Arts Plastiques Contemporains, Bordeaux. May-July, 1975), no pagination
Jennifer Ramkalawon