Hot Dream (52 Books) by DINE, Jim (b. 1935) - 2008

Göttingen: Steidl, 2008. Unique set produced by the Jim Dine Studio: 52 volumes, plus exhibition catalogue. Together in card box with original hand-lettered/painted title by Jim Dine. 16 x 10 x 7 inches. ONE OF ONLY TWENTY UNIQUE SETS, AND THE ONLY SET EVER MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE FOR SALE. This artists book series was originally published by Steidl in a trade edition in 2008, and is due to be reissued in 2019. This set is one of twenty that the Jim Dine Studio bound from the original 2008 sheets and enhanced with hand-applied titles to all fifty-two covers. The card boxes of these twenty copies were each individually titled in Dine's characteristic black oil lettering, making each set different. The Studio created these sets for private distribution to friends and family, and no set has ever been previously offered for sale. This set comes directly from the Studio, and is offered on its behalf. In 'Hot Dream (52 Books),' Dine set out to make a book a week for one year, each a meticulous, raw, intense documentation of his aesthetic and artistic practice. The books reflect Dine's seemingly limitless creativity and breadth, and their entwined form and purpose as artists book, diary, confession, criticism, literature, and documentary provides unique insight in the diversity of artistic creation and expression. The works in the books were first on view at the Museum Liner Appenzell, Switzerland from June 22 to October 26, 2008. In the exhibition catalogue essay, curator Dr. Roland Scotti wrote that the work, "invents the context for a new melody for the art of Jim Dine, for all the major byways of this seemingly inexhaustible creativity, which combines dream and reality." PaceWildenstein remarks on the "Expressions of consciousness, biography and imagination, they represent a meeting point for some of the artist's long-time interests including book-making, drawing and performance." This unique set shows Dine reconnecting with this decade-old work, and once again infusing it with his artistic practice.