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Dine, Jim.
JIM DINE: BIRDS.
Göttingen, Germany: Steidl, 2001. Hardcover. First Edition/First Printing. 90 pages. As New/As New. Artist Book. One of the finest art photography books of the year 2001. An austerely beautiful production by Jim Dine, Diana Michener, and Gerhard Steidl: Oversize-volume format. Handsome pale brown silk boards with photographic reproduction pasted on cover and titles embossed on spine, as issued. Photographs and Brief Introduction, "Reconstructing the Dream Called North", by Jim Dine. Magnificently printed in Heliogravure on rich Monadnock Dulcet Smooth 104g Hahnemuhle Paper stock in Gottingen, Germany to the very highest standards. The pages are elegantly joined at the edges. In pictorial DJ with white titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents the collection of bird photographs by the American artist who is better-known for his paintings and multi-media installations. This is not one's typical "nature"-genre photography book. "Birds" was inspired by a dream involving an owl and is about the artist's deepest themes of identity, exile, flight, solitude, and what to him is the fantasy called life. A childhood encounter with a crow at a zoo led to a lifetime fascination with avian life. This encounter with the bird was perceived by the young Dine with a mixture of fear, a fascination and deeper understanding of his unconscious life, and from it grew a mythic symbolism, which he explores in a series of remarkable and stunning black-and-white photographs. "Here, an everyday, unspectacular bird might appear to the beholder as a character of mythology, as a jester at the medieval court or as a strange messenger from a world behind the scenes. These are rich, intimate, darkly detailed images imbued with symbolism and meaning. They are also beautiful and compelling, particularly as published in this spectacular volume, printed using a technique called Heliogravure and with Japanese binding, a truly beautiful object in itself and reveals a new aspect of the work of Jim Dine" (Publisher's blurb). There is something about the bird that has inspired artists everywhere, in every great artistic and photographic culture, whether Europe, Latin America or Japan. Jim Dine's collection recalls both Masahisa Fukase's "The Solitude of Ravens" and also the more recent collection, "Pajaros", by the great Mexican artist/photographer, Graciela Iturbide, in its austere, poetic, and sublime beauty. These are ravishing and unforgettable photographs by a truly great artist. A "must-have" title for Jim Dine collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black marker on the title page by Jim Dine. This title has been out-of-print for a long time. This is one of extremely few signed copies still available online and has no flaws, a pristine beauty. The title sells for as much as $750 online. A rare signed copy thus. 36 Heliogravure plates, 1 foldout. One of the greatest American artists of the 20th century. A flawless collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JIM DINE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 3882432403. $300.00 |
