In “Looking at the Present: Recent Works by Jim Dine,” at Richard Gray Gallery‘s newly opened warehouse space in West Town, Jim Dine presents a series of figurative paintings made within the last two years. Earlier in his career, Dine was famous for his depictions of objects such as robes, tools, and especially hearts, but before “Looking at the Present” he’d spent several years working in a purely abstract style. The more recent pieces present a subtle return to the body, undefined figures and faces ground into the surface with power tools and a thick application of sand-mixed acrylic and oil paint. And the nine large-scale paintings ideally inaugurate Richard Gray’s 5,000-square-foot space, a setting that provides room to take in the darker tone set by Dine’s thickly painted skulls, twisted bodies, and even his own head.
Dine explained that his process is much more physical than it has been in previous decades. His gritty formula of sand and paint sits at the base of his paintings; Dine then uses sanders and other power tools to produce a sculptural surface, cutting divets and sanding down the applied paint into a rougher field of textures. This technique of application and erasure is common in his work regardless of medium, the artist creating a painting, poem, or sculpture and then continuing to destroy and rebuild additional parts of it until he deems it complete.
Through 6/10: Wed-Sat 11 AM-5 PM Richard Gray Gallery, Gray Warehouse 2044 W. Carroll 312-883-8277richardgraygallery.com Free
