Jim Dine is one of the most recognizable and prolific of American artists. His work is characterized by the invention, repetition, and reinvention of now-familiar themes: hearts, a bathrobe, tools, and the human skull among them. Dine has always worked in various media including painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, collage, ceramics, photography, performance, books and mixed media.
Often associated with Pop Artists, Dine stands apart because he treats his chosen objects in a much more intimate and personal way, exploring them inventively and repeatedly in diverse media. “I knew him.” Jim Dine Skulls, 1982–2000 is a generous gift to the Chazen from the artist himself and represents a thematically cohesive collection with sixty-seven examples of his treatment of the human skull. Included in this gift are two large-scale sculptures, five paintings, eight drawings, twenty-five prints, two ceramic pieces, and a number of photographs, all of which were produced by the artist between 1982 and 2000.
IMAGE: Jim Dine (American b. 1935), My Nights in Santa Monica, 1986, direct gravure, soft-ground etching, dry point, courtesy of the artist