No. 431: Mark Dion, Nancy Lupo

Episode No. 431 of The Modern Art Notes Podcast features artists Mark Dion and Nancy Lupo.

This weekend, the Amon Carter Museum opens “The Perilous Texas Adventures of Mark Dion.” For the exhibition, Dion retraced the steps of four nineteenth-century Texas explorers: Sarah Ann Lillie Hardinge, Charles Wright, John James Audubon and Frederick Law Olmsted, accumulating material and experiences all along. The Carter exhibition features both Dion’s discoveries and related works from its collection. Curated by Margaret C. Adler, it will remain on view through May 17. The Amon Carter has published an extraordinary book in association with the project, in some ways an adaptation of and Dion & Co. updating of Olmsted’s Texas travel diary, that is distributed by Yale University Press. Amazon offers it for $40.

Dion works at the intersection of art, natural history, history and anthropology. His work examines and often critiques humanity’s approach to nature, landscape and science through witty address of scientific methodologies and installations that often have roots in Victorian-era presentation.

Dion has fulfilled commissions and had exhibitions at museums all over the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate, and the Natural History Museum, London. He is also a co-director of Mildred’s Lane, a visual art education and residency program in Beach Lake, Pennsylvania.

Dion was previously a guest on Episode No. 309. Olmsted’s books on his travels through Texas and the South are available for free and in multiple formats from the Internet Archive’s Open Library. Installation and related Dion images will be available early on the week of Feb. 10.

On the second segment, Lupo discusses her work on the occasion of “Nancy Lupo: Scripts for the Pageant” at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Curated by Anthony Graham, the exhibition is on view at MCASD’s downtown location through March 15. Lupo’s previous exhibition credits include the 2018 version of the Hammer Museum’s “Made in LA,” and solo exhibitions at the Swiss Institute, New York, LAXART, and the Visual Arts Center at the University of Texas.

Air date: February 6, 2020.

Mark Dion (left) enjoys his first Whataburger visit with botanist and travel companion Barney Lipscomb in West Texas, July 2018.

Mark Dion, Sketch of Seagull, 2018.

Various specimens collected by Mark Dion at King Ranch, Texas, November 2018.

The bones of a coyote collected by Mark Dion in West Texas, July 2018.

Box containing material collected by Mark Dion in Galveston, Texas, March 2018.

Sarah Ann Lillie Hardinge, Wanderer’s Retreat. Residence of Mr. J. De-Cordova. 5 miles from Seguin; ca. 1853-1854.

Sarah Ann Lillie Hardinge, View from the Bridge, San Antonio. Texas
ca. 1852-1853.

Sarah Ann Lillie Hardinge, Mr. Polley’s Plantation, Harrie’s birth-place. ca. 1856.

Mark Dion tries on cowboy hats in the Fort Worth Stockyards, 2018.

Juanita Pahdopony travel journals, 2018.

Juanita Pahdopony travel journals, 2018.

John T. Bowen, After John James Audubon, Roseate Spoonbill, 1843.

John James Audubon, Lynx rufus. Var. maculatus, Horsfield & Vigors. Texas Lynx. Female, 1846.

John James Audubon, Hooping [sic] Crane, Grus Americana. Adult Male., 1834.

Custom designed Texas wallpaper by Mark Dion, 2019.

Mark Dion, Perilous Texas Adventures Specimen Preparation Table, 2020, wooden desk and chair with assorted tools and natural items.

Mark Dion, The Texas Cabinet, 2020, wooden cabinet filled with objects from Dion’s travels.

Mark Dion, The Texas Cabinet_detail, 2020, wooden cabinet filled with objects from Dion’s travels.

Installation view of “Nancy Lupo: Scripts for the Pageant” at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, 2019-20.

Installation view of “Nancy Lupo: Scripts for the Pageant” at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, 2019-20.

Installation view of “Nancy Lupo: Scripts for the Pageant” at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, 2019-20.

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