Jim Dine looked himself in the eye as he addressed an audience gathered in the Zilkha Gallery last Friday. He was seated directly across from a wall of his own self-portraits, a fitting setting for an artist to be confronted with questions about his work. On view at both the Zilkha and the Davison Art Center are Dine’s latest works.
The majority of works are recent large-scale photos that are part of a worldwide traveling exhibit entitled “The Photographs, so far.” Photography is a relatively new medium for Dine, whose interest has been dominated by all types of printmaking.
“I took a new and exciting headlong dive into photography; I was sitting on my hands for a long time and I wanted to photograph,” Dine said. “I photograph because it’s a fast way to access marginal thoughts, its so immediate and exciting, by the time you finish a painting, you lose access or memory of the original motivations.”
The night before the gala reception in the Zilkha Gallery, Andy Grundberg, former New York Times photography critic, addressed issues about photography and Dine’s work in particular as a way to contextualize the show.
The talk was centered on Grundberg’s concept of “Concrete Photography,” the concept that photos include indexical systems that the artist creates. In order to understand this term or style, Grunberg laid out a brief history of photography as it falls in two main categories, photo as documentary and photo as generative. Thus, there are images that capture and represent a moment, and images that discover new forms, or translate indirectly. Grundberg described Dine as falling more into the later category, claiming that Dine’s work includes the artist’s main tool, his own hands.
“Uses of words, hand written, is for the act of photography, the hand is not on the image itself in the process of print making, but in the production, embedded in the scene but a sense of concrete expression of the artist’s subjectivity,” Grunberg said.
After all, Dine’s recent works—from 2000 to today—are digital images of items that he put together for the purpose of putting them in a frame. They include a combination of many forms, poetry painted on a wall, tools and dolls, and speak to the audience not as a natural occurrence but more as a man-made creation. Thus, he exploits the ability to make 2-D into 3-D, and exposes evidence of the artist’s hand in making a photo.
“I realized that writing itself can be an object, words can be an object and can be manipulated like a still-life,” Dine said. “I like being able to get up in the morning and write something on the wall. It’s a little bit like the dog and the fire hydrant!”
According to Grunberg, photographers are always asking, “How can we make new images if the world is already made up of images for us?”
He applauded Dine for his ability to face such questions and to “find the authentic within the medium.”
John Jakobson ’52 is responsible for introducing Dine to the University. Friends for years, Jakobson appreciates all the time and work the artist has given to this community.
“He did this out of friendship with me and because [the curators] were so spectacular,” Jakobson said. “This is an extraordinary gift and pretty hard to pay back.”
Dine has always had an affinity for Wesleyan; one of his earliest shows and catalogues started at the University, and he has donated to the collection.
“Who else would have done this whole thing, but a college like Wesleyan?” Dine said.
Dine’s ability to constantly change his work and to take his art into many directions in many media makes him an ideal role model for Wesleyan students.
“He’s an artist that’s always trying new things,” said Julia Himmlestein ’05. “ I feel this is something that the art department pushes, being experimental and playing around with things and his enthusiasm about taking risks is contagious.”
The gala reception consisted of a conversation between Curator Stephanie Wiles, who is no longer at the University, and Dine. Wiles emphasized that Dine’s vision is consistent with the values of this community.
“It speaks to the fact that Wesleyan is all about reaching out and doing something different and being open minded,” Wiles said.
The staged questions and answers between curator and artist highlighted aspects of Dine’s process and feelings about photography.
“He didn’t really talk about what he meant with his work,” said Dan Fox ’05. “Usually if an artist is accessible its always interesting to know what they meant with their work and what they wanted to express.”
Corrina Zeltsman ’05 thought it was valuable to look at the context and creator of the work.
“It’s interesting to see how an artist who is already established in different media tries to grapple with changing perspectives,” she said. “Once his art has accomplished so much where he can take it from there.”
The rare opportunity to see an artist speak in front of his work was appreciated by the students.
“I feel really privileged that he’s being shown at this school,” said Dave Wilson ’05. “I like that he uses repeated imagery, even though its really personal, it still has meaning for the audience.”
Overall, the celebration of Jim Dine and the works he has both brought and donated to the University has been quite joyous and informative. The presentation of the exhibit by contextualizing it with critic and artist has added another level of understanding and appreciation of the works. The show will run through Dec. 12.
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