Jim Dine has painted for more than 40 years, and he continues to surprise. Dine’s current show at the Richard Gray Gallery is a wallop of new images taken from popular culture, along with some longstanding ones.
The strange title of the show, “Ape, Police, Doctor, Soldier, Me,” derives from a five-part, 94-inch-by-32 3/4-inch painting that brings to life images other than those suggested by the title, including a Pinocchio and Mickey Mouse. The initial inspiration for the use of these new icons comes from a triptych painting on view, “Night and Day, Girls and Plants, Tools and Dreams.” According to gallery director Paul Gray, Dine was asked by former Disney Co. head Michael Ovitz to paint a picture for his office but was given no specific direction. The Mickey Mouse figure was a natural because of the Disney connection; the Pinocchio was inspired by several factors — a figurine Dine has owned since 1964; the Pinocchio story, which had fascinated and frightened him as a child; and the notion of creation.
In some works, Pinocchio retains an almost stunned lost-boy gaze, particularly in the large looming, isolated figures in “Pinocchio in a Haze” and “Pinocchio on Felt.” But in other works, such as “Walking With Me,” which may be the most forceful on view, Dine’s Pinocchio in profile resembles a much older, even sorrowful figure, paired with a frightening skeleton that hints at what lies ahead, for Pinocchio was transformed from a puppet to a human being.
The true value of Dine’s work lies in the brilliance with which familiar images, in a variety of colorful media, are mixed with a variety of artistic gestures, such as smudges and drips. The paintings not only stand on their own but also draw viewers almost aggressively into the artist’s complicated realm, so that they feel they have witnessed the artistic process as well as the final result. Dine says that he is more interested in the drawing itself than in the choice of color, and the charcoal and pastel “Dancer” deftly makes this point. Yet Dine, with seeming ease, selects and juxtaposes just the right colors and intensities. Crisp reds jump from gray and black expanses; subtle ocher and blue balance well in “Owl on Blue.” The show continues through April 11 at Richard Gray, Suite 2503, 875 N. Michigan Ave.
Matt Lamb is still concocting stream-of-consciousness narratives peopled by imaginative beings, but the mixed-media canvases on view at Fassbender gallery show that Lamb’s work has matured and become more interesting. The changes are a matter of degree — a bit of minimalism tempering Lamb’s complicated style — rather than a new beginning. Lamb’s colors are not as brash now, though hardly subtle. He sometimes leaves more background space and solid areas for breathing room. The compositions are more organized, with a definite focal point. The surfaces reach deeper through multiple layers of texture — an effect achieved through the use of a mix of media, including cement and a pigment that a friend makes for him that is said to be like Jell-O. To integrate his mix of materials, Lamb uses a blow torch. And the sense of continuous frenetic movement exhibited in the past has been slowed a bit.
The meaning behind his work? A desire, says Lamb, to portray spiritual hope. The exhibit continues at Fassbender, 309 W. Superior St., through April 18.
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