Description:
Dine turns his drawing practice outward to capture the faces of his friends, family and collaborators
Well known for his depictions of self, Jim Dine (born 1935) reveals in Last Year's Forgotten Harvest another portrait of sorts. Presenting nearly seven decades of drawing, from 1957 to the present, Last Year's Forgotten Harvest demonstrates the deep fusion between Dine's practice and those who have long been part of his world. His wife, photographer Diana Michener, appears in multiple, heavily worked portraits. Images of close friends and fellow creatives are scattered throughout the publication, including drawings of artist Susan Rothenberg, printer Aldo Crommelynck, poet Robert Creeley, and printer and publisher Gerhard Steidl, with whom he created this book. The blemishes, wrinkles and stains that imprint themselves on the flesh similarly appear on the surfaces of Dine's drawings as he encounters his subjects over time. Providing a poignant reflection on a career characterized by digesting the world through making, Dine concludes: "This is what I'm left with. I'm left with drawing."