Jim Dine

 “My hearts contain layered metaphors about the body, sensuality, love, and I see the heart as the agent and the organ of my emotions. . . .The heart functions as a sign that one can care, that there is a constant presence of feeling.” Jim Dine

Jim Dine was born in 1935 in Cincinnati, Ohio and studied at the University of Cincinnati and the Boston Museum School before earning his BFA from Ohio University in 1957. During the height of Pop Art and the evolution of Happenings in the 1960s, Dine began his career with performance and assemblage works that incorporated common, everyday objects. His paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, and time-based works often feature tools, household objects, and especially men’s clothes (including suits and bathrobes). These items serve as metaphors for childhood memories, personal psychological states, and self-portraits.

Although Jim Dine has been associated with Pop Art, his aesthetic is far more within the tradition of Abstract Expressionism due to his gestural approach. Throughout his career, he has returned to the heart image, using it as a form expressive of his thoughts and emotions. He leaves his personal mark on Twin 6’ Hearts both symbolically and physically by the imprints of his hands on the surface of the sculpture. In this work Dine demonstrates his ability to transform the symbolic interest in objects and icons characteristic of Pop Art into a language of expression and emotion.