Puppet Master

Jim Dine's fascination with Pinocchino is no little whim. He's spent a good portion of his life being obsessed with the puppet, and the culmination of that curiosity is his new show at Pace Wildenstein gallery. Dine seems to have a love/hate relationship with the story of Pinocchio. Dine really abused these wooden sculptures. Some are sandblasted, and one is carbonized with a blowtorch. With most of the figures, Pinocchio's face is cracked, his eyes smeared away, and his limbs are raw, sharp edges. This exhibit sucks you into that spooky world of children's tales where metaphor becomes very real. (Images via Pace Wildenstein gallery)