“Mark Dion: Follies”
Storm King Art Center, New York, on view through November 11, 2019
What the Museum Says: “Since the mid-1990s, [Mark] Dion has frequently employed the form of the architectural folly—a compact, decorative structure intended to inspire meaning rather than serve a functional purpose—to create intricate tableaux and house displays of a wide range of delicate and specific objects. Dion’s practice investigates intersections between culture and nature in myriad ways, and the enclosures of his follies have allowed him to create works with a complexity of visual material that would otherwise not be possible in public or outdoor spaces.”
Why It’s Worth a Look: Dion’s quirky, often joyful work is also smart and rigorous. Like Marcel Broodthaers before him, Dion likes to dig into histories, unearth something that’s been long forgotten, and hold it up to the light. That may sound dry, but Dion rarely does anything without a sense of sheer joy and wonder.
What It Looks Like:
Mark Dion, Brontosaurus (2016). Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles.
Mark Dion and Dana Sherwood, Conservatory for Confectionery Curiosities (2008/2019). Courtesy the artists and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles.
Mark Dion, Grotto of the Sleeping Bear (1997/2019). Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles.
Mark Dion, Lemonade Stand (1995). Courtesy Galerie Nagel Draxler, Berlin/Cologne.
Mark Dion, Memento Mori (My Glass Is Run) (2004). Courtesy Mildred’s Lane, Pennsylvania.