In a new exhibition at Laumeier Sculpture Park, “Mark Dion: Follies” invites the viewer to explore, inhabit, and rummage through artificial and meticulously planned architectural works. Comprised of five sculptures and 16 works on paper, the show features installations both inside the Aronson Fine Arts Center and outdoors in the park. Playing on the tradition of follies—or architecture that exists for pleasure and whimsy instead of function—Dion creates alternative worlds in his installations.
When you step into Memory Box, you are presented with a moment of anticipation. Acting as the kind of accidental cabinet of curiosity that accumulates in a grandparent’s attic, the wooden structure, modeled after a chicken coop, is full of boxes. These range from jewelry boxes to game boards in size, and inside are treasures that take the form of novelty cards, wishbones, vials of botanical and organic matter, shells, coins, and other wonderful things. There are hundreds of these boxes, and the viewer is invited to spend time opening them.
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In Hunting Blind (The Dandy Rococo), we see the idea of folly continued in a cross between a 16th-century French gentleman’s hunting lodge and a modern deer stand. Covered in pampas grass from another St. Louis Parks system, the inside of the structure is furnished with lavish furniture, glassware, and light fixtures. This camouflaged structure being inside of a white, contemporary exhibition space adds to its absurdity. As Dion explains of the work, “The blinds or hides are period pieces in a sense, but . . . The dandy hunter who sees hunting as a part of the continuity of class privilege is (sadly) alive and well.”
“Mark Dion: Follies” comes to Laumeier from Storm King Art Center in New York State, and its installation is being overseen by Lauren Ross, executive director, and Dana Turkovic, curator. Ross says of the show: “Laumeier is thrilled to bring Mark Dion’s artwork to the St. Louis region. His work is at once smart, funny, accessible, thought-provoking, and perfectly aligned with our mission of engaging the community through art and nature.” Turkovic adds: “I can’t wait to see Dion’s work here at Laumeier, the interaction between art and science, zoology and landscape, mixed with pre-fab architecture and thrift-store trinkets will nurture the curiosity of our visitors.”
Along with the installations, drawings by Dion are displayed. These detailed colored drawings represent installations both realized and imagined. There is also a selection of Dion’s museum ‘field guides,’ that show the breadth of the artist’s exhibiting history, including his “Gallery Guide to the Melancholy Museum: Love, Death, and Mourning at Stanford.”
Pick up your own field guide to “Mark Dion: Follies” in the gift shop. The exhibition is now open and runs through May 24.
