Calico 1965

Jim Dine made *Calico* with a real zipper, collaged and painted on paper. I love how the composition is divided into three, starting with that vibrant, bumpy green on the left, which feels like a field seen from above. The texture is so physical; you can almost feel it. Then, the off-white space beside it is so smooth, so empty except for that zipper. The way the zipper is drawn, it’s almost like a ghostly apparition, hovering, yet functional, like a found object embraced by abstraction. It’s funny how Dine’s work resonates with Rauschenberg’s collages, that Dadaist spirit of incorporating the everyday, but Dine brings a warmth and intimacy. And it’s the way he leaves room for the unexpected, letting the materials speak and inviting us into a world of endless possibilities.