Essay Sample on Jim Dine Art Work

Introduction

Jim Dine is a renowned American artist often associated with Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. He employed motifs such as heart shapes, tools, bathrobes, and Pinocchio among others in his artworks. Thus, symbolism and allegory dominated his artwork. It is essential to note that despite being associated with Performance and Pop Art, Dine also produced a variety of paintings, sculptures, drawings, performances, and poetry that are not identified with any particular movement. It is therefore important to critic his artwork for clarity of his style.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

In his artworks, Dine carries the movement's spontaneous energy throughout his artistic style. He used compressed charcoal and vine as his initial preferred drawing material. Additionally, he used frosted plastic and paper supports as his painting materials (Coldwell 177-188). Through his artwork, Dine endeavored to make his audiences to visualize everyday world from another standpoint. For example, he used New York City streets as his form of inspiration to create Bedspring, an outstanding artwork. Another example of everyday occurrence was the "Car Crash" artwork which had autobiographical and personal roots to Dine. The artwork was an inspiration for his automobile accidents he had in the past years. He performed in a cathartic process to communicate his past traumas and emotional memories to his audiences. Furthermore, the "Double Isometric Self-Portrait (1964)" was also an inspiration for everyday objects to give meaning to his viewers. He intelligently chose personal objects and created self-portraits which represented his favorite bathrobe. Also, in "Ten Winter Tools (1972)", Dine used readily available tools to explain to viewers the iconic nature of tools in creating, molding, or forging beautiful art.

Also, it is worthy to pinpoint that Dine used iconic series of robes and hearts which signified his primary motifs (Coldwell 177-188). Noteworthy, his iconic "heart" works include "Hearts in the Meadow (1970)", which represented the cordial relationship he had with his lovely wife, and "Four Hearts (1969)". Another artwork was the "Straw Heart," which was an oversized heart silhouette that he built from iron and straw. Dine was instrumental in championing for a figuration return after domination from concept works. His artwork, "The Smiling Workman (1959)" was a progenitor of Happenings that introduced performance artistry to the world, and therefore he was a pioneer of Abstract Expressionism. It is also essential to note that Dine had a unique and mercurial ability that enabled him to shift psychic states within the same drawing. He, therefore, could work in different styles depending on the nature of the assignment. For instance, his work at the Manhattan show helped in explaining is a substantial process in artistry. In this painting, there are series of valentine heart images that are embedded on the brushwork of Abstract Expressionist.

Conclusion

In general, Jim Dine is an outstanding artist who used different styles depending on the nature of the assignment to communicate with his audience in a clear and concise manner. It is imperative to pinpoint that his style was associated with spontaneous energy in his artistic works. Predominantly, he was associated with Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art due to the nature of his art style. However, he engaged in other forms of arts that were difficult to categorize in any movement. Dine was majorly focused on the things within his surrounding to change the perception of his viewers. It is worthy to elucidate that the use of hearts was common in his artworks and signified his motifs.

Works Cited

Coldwell, Paul. "Jim Dine-Printmaking and the Tools of his Trade." Print Quarterly 33.2 (2017): 177-188.