Back to list Prehistoric reptiles, gigantic mammals and live
piranhas are among the curiosities used in the work of
American contemporary artist, Mark Dion, in his first
solo exhibition in the UK since 1997,
‘Microcosmographia’, opening at the South London Gallery
on 9 September 2005. Dion is known for his eclectic projects both
within and outside galleries. In the Gallery, huge
creatures and fantastic visions from the natural world
are used to explore the evolution of natural history
while in the SLG’s Secret Garden, Dion will make a new
site-specific and evolving commission for the SLG. The centre piece of the exhibition will be a
life-sized replica of a beached prehistoric aquatic
reptile, known as Ichthyosaur, with relics from the
history of the natural sciences spilling from its belly.
This air-breathing carnivore, whose name means
‘fish-lizard’ in Greek, measured up to three metres in
length and moved through the water with limbs highly
adapted for use as steering paddles. The discovery of
the fossils of this unusual creature prompted confusion
and argument between Victorian scientists over its genealogy. The work of another ‘gentleman scientist’, Jean
Henri Fabre, provides the inspiration for Les
Necrophores-L’Enterrement. A giant mole, crawling in
giant beetles, will be suspended by a noose from the
Gallery ceiling. The work plays homage to this untrained
nineteenth-century scholar who set out to prove the
intelligence of insects through a series of bizarre experiments. For Dion’s new commission, Biological Field Unit,
a team of botanists, entomologists and artists will
conduct a detailed survey of plant and insect life in
the SLG’s Secret Garden. Working from a specially
constructed research station, the team will collect,
document and display their findings using traditional
hand illustration and photographic methods. In a survey of Dion’s projects to date, the walls
of the SLG entrance corridor and lounge space will be
decorated in the style of Victorian drawing rooms with
wallpaper designed by the artist and a ‘salon’ display
of drawings, plans and photographs. These range from
proposals for romantic grottoes and dystopian theme
parks to illustrations of bird and plant life, and
studio portraits of Victorian lady scientists played by
figures from today’s London art world. ‘Microcosmographia’ is the first major solo
exhibition in a London gallery by Dion, whose previous
successes include the Tate Thames Dig, 2000 and Rescue
Archaeology, 2004 for MOMA, New York. This year Dion is
involved in projects with the Bureau for the Centre for
the Study of Surrealism and its Legacies at the
Manchester Museum, using the Centre’s archives to create
a fictional office for the Surrealists, and the design
and build of a bear enclosure, commissioned by Dundee
Zoo and Dundee Contemporary Art. The exhibition will tour to Firstsite, Colchester
5 Nov –10 Dec 2005 and the Harris Museum and Art
Gallery, Preston 14 Jan to 12 Mar 2006. EXHIBITION SUPPORT AND THANKS ‘Microcosmographia’ and the related education
programme are supported by Bloomberg and have received
additional funding from Arts Council England and The
Henry Moore Foundation. The Secret Garden Biological
Field Unit has been made possible by the generous
support of Bloomberg and the Calouste Gulbenkian
Foundation. With thanks to The Secret Garden Biological
Field Unit team: Richard ‘Bugman’ Jones, Victoria
Papworth, Botany Curator for the Natural History Museum;
Lucy Smith, Botanical Illustrator for Kew Gardens. | 
