JIM DINE: PINOCCHIO AS I KNEW HIM
April 5 - June 17, 2005

Richard Gray presents an exhibition of new work by Jim Dine. The exhibition will highlight the artist's masterful recent sculptures as well as a multi-panel oil on canvas, and a multi-sheet drawing.

Jim Dine's name is inextricably linked with the Pop art movement, but the artist today follows a more personal path. The images that he incorporates into his work, are recognizable, archetypal symbols, rather than the everyday objects of Pop art. He explains that "These subjects have become part of the cultural DNA of America, and my inclination as an artist is to examine all that means to me."

Dine uses his new favorite image for this exhibition, that of Pinocchio, the lost boy. It seems a perfect fit for the artist who has also adopted among other motifs; tools, bathrobes, and hearts. These images, always recognizable, are at once innocent and charming, but as Dine looks deeper, they become much more complex and sometimes threatening. The puppet Pinocchio, carved from a talking branch, is the very ideal of this double message - so innocent and simple, wanting only to become a real boy, and yet lazy, irresponsible, selfish and ungrateful to Gepetto, his creator, and the one who truly loves him. Much like the story of creation is the story of Pinocchio, with all of the imperfections of humanity exposed. Like Gepetto, Jim Dine brings Pinocchio to life in this exhibition, carved from a block of wood, with all of his pathos, his charm and his humanity.