Organized by the Davison Art Center and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, the touring exhibition Jim Dine, The Photographs, so far was on view at both the DAC and Wesleyan's Ezra & Cecile Zilkha Gallery.

Back Saw, 2002, chromogenic print, edition of three. Copyright © 2002 Jim Dine; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York.

An internationally renowned painter, sculptor, draughtsman, and printmaker, as well as a pioneer of the Pop Art movement in the 1960s, Dine (born 1935) is known for employing in his work such personal icons as tools, robes, ravens, owls, skulls, and hearts. Photography is a relatively new medium for Dine, and this exhibition was the first chance the public had had to see the full scope of the excitement and possibilities that it holds for him. The show included photogravures, digital ink-jet prints, and gelatin silver and chromogenic prints dating from his first serious and sustained investigations in photography beginning in 1995 through to work made in 2003.

Arm Study, 2002, gelatin silver print, edition of three. Copyright © 2002 Jim Dine; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York.

"To take in this show is to wander through Dine's life: his childhood obsessions, his loves, his dreams," wrote Dana Thomas in her review of the exhibition ("Shooting Himself") for the Atlantic edition ofNewsweek. "It is a poignant and powerful exhibit that rightly celebrates one of modern art's most intriguing--and least hyped--talents." The journal artpress, which featured the exhibition on the cover of its July/August 2003 issue, said that "the mysterious world of Dine's photography...constitutes a very good introduction to this artist's imaginative universe.... The importance of the work we have before us today is such that one could almost say that this represents a 'new' Jim Dine."

Two special events were open free of charge to the public. On Thursday 30 September at 8 p.m. in the Center for the Arts Cinema, there was a talk titled "Concrete Photography" by former New York Times photography critic Andy Grundberg, currently chair of photography at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C.

On Friday 1 October from 5 to 7 p.m., a gala reception for Jim Dine took place in the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery. At 5:30, the artist had a conversation about his photographs with Stephanie Wiles, curator of the exhibition.

A catalog raisonné was published in connection with the exhibition.

Color--Poem, 2002, chromogenic print, edition of three. Copyright © 2002 Jim Dine; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York.

The exhibition and the catalog raisonné were made possible through grants or special funding from The Florence Gould Foundation, Joan and John R. Jakobson, and the Lemberg Fund. Additional support was provided by the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Wesleyan University, and The Grand Marnier Foundation. Mr. Grundberg's talk was sponsored by Wesleyan's Edward W. Snowdon Fund; Mellon Center for Faculty Career Development; Department of Art and Art History Samuel Silipo '85 Distinguished Visitor Fund; and Wesleyan Writing Program.

Jim Dine's Prints

Tuesday 21 September - Sunday 12 December 2004 (closed Wednesday 24 November - Sunday 28 November)

A group of Jim Dine's prints from the DAC collection was on view concurrently with Jim Dine, The Photographs, so far. These works illuminate some of the artist's well-known themes that are transformed in his photographs. Curated by Oliver McCarthy-Foecke '05 with the assistance of Sophie White.