Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld

Sculpture and painting by acclaimed artists explore the depths of threats to the natural world

July 13, 2024–January 5, 2025

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College announces Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld, a monumental exhibition surveying 30 years of both artists’ work, on view from July 13, 2024, through January 5, 2025. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, July 13, at 5 pm.

Journey to Nature’s Underworld invites visitors on a voyage of discovery into the depths of our threatened natural world through large-scale painted and sculptural works that will occupy the Tang’s two largest galleries. Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman have, for decades, been addressing humankind’s strained relationship with the environment and its vast ecological consequences.

Although working in different media, Dion and Rockman engage similar approaches and strategies, informed by intensive research and fieldwork, borrowing from scientific methodology and models, and using allegory, dark humor, and references to popular culture. Both artists employ methods of display found in museums of art and natural history, which they slyly subvert to interrogate how audiences have traditionally experienced the environment within constructed spaces. Uniting some twenty-five sculptures and paintings by both artists as well as selected works on paper and a major new collaborative piece, this exhibition will offer an absorbing journey into the depths of the threatened natural world.

“We are thrilled to bring Alexis and Mark’s provocative and engaging work into our galleries,” said Dayton Director Ian Berry. “By melding art and science, they allow visitors multiple pathways to explore urgent issues around sustainability, the environment, and the role visual art plays in helping us grasp evolving ideas and spark curiosity. At the heart of the Tang Museum’s mission is exactly this ability to work across disciplines to bring people together and expand our understanding of our shared world.”

This exhibition is the first two-person show of these artists. Together, they have embarked on tropical expeditions, published dialogues, and co-edited Concrete Jungle, the pioneering 1996 book about anthropogenic ecosystems. Thus, Journey to Nature’s Underworld is not just evidence of their shared psyche, it is also a manifestation of a long and fruitful friendship.

In addition to the public reception on Saturday, July 13, at 5 pm, numerous events will be centered around the exhibition. On Saturday, July 20, the Tang’s annual community open house, Frances Day, will feature tours, music, and artmaking for all ages inspired by the exhibition. On Thursday, August 15, at noon, a Curator’s Tour of the exhibition will be given by Assistant Director for Curatorial Affairs and Malloy Curator Rachel Seligman. Fall events will be announced later.

Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld is organized by the American Federation of Arts and curated by Suzanne Ramljak, Chief Curator at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park and former curator at the American Federation of Arts. Support for the exhibition has been provided by Elizabeth Belfer and Victoria E. Triplett. The exhibition is organized for the Tang Teaching Museum by Rachel Seligman, Malloy Curator, and is supported at the Tang Teaching Museum by the Friends of the Tang and the Mellon Foundation.

Admission to the museum is free. For more information, contact the Tang Visitors Services Desk at 518-580-8080 or visit https://tang.skidmore.edu.

About the Artists

Mark Dion is a conceptual artist whose works have been shown at numerous institutions, including the Whitechapel Gallery, London (2018), the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (2017), and the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2004), among others. His awards include the ninth annual Larry Aldrich Foundation Award (2001), The Joan Mitchell Foundation Award (2007), and the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Lucida Art Award (2008). He has created large-scale public projects internationally, including at Documenta 13 in Kassel, Germany, and at the Bienal de Montevideo in Uruguay. He is a graduate of the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford, the School of Visual Arts, New York, and the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Study Program. He is currently the co-director of Mildred’s Lane, an innovative visual art education and residency program in Beach Lake, Pennsylvania.

Alexis Rockman is a cinematic oil painter who has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including at the Brooklyn Museum of Art (2022), the Smithsonian American Art Museum (2010), and the Whitney Museum of American Art (1990). His work is held in numerous collections, including the Yale University Art Gallery, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He is the recipient of the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation (1987) and Ruth Ann and Nathan Perlmutter Artist-in-Residence (2008) awards. Rockman is a graduate of the Art Students League, Rhode Island School of Design, and the School of Visual Arts, New York.
 

About the American Federation of Arts

The American Federation of Arts is the leader in traveling exhibitions internationally. A nonprofit organization founded in 1909, the AFA is dedicated to enriching the public’s experience and understanding of the visual arts through organizing and touring art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishing exhibition catalogues featuring important scholarly research, and developing educational programs.

About Skidmore College          

Founded in 1903, Skidmore College is a highly selective private, coeducational liberal arts college of about 2,700 students. Skidmore is consistently named one of the “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” by U.S. News and World Report and has recently been recognized as one of “America’s Most Entrepreneurial Colleges” by Forbes, a “Top College Value” by Kiplinger, and one of “The Best 389 Colleges” by The Princeton Review. Travel and Leisure has also called Saratoga Springs, home to Skidmore’s campus, one of “America’s Best College Towns.”


About the Tang Teaching Museum

The Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College is a pioneer of interdisciplinary exploration and learning. A cultural anchor of New York’s Capital Region, the Tang’s approach has become a model for college and university art museums across the country—with exhibition programs that bring together visual and performing arts with interdisciplinary ideas from history, economics, biology, dance, and physics, to name just a few. The Tang has one of the most rigorous faculty-engagement initiatives in the nation, and a robust publication and touring exhibition program that extends the museum’s reach far beyond its walls. The Tang Teaching Museum’s award-winning building, designed by architect Antoine Predock, serves as a visual metaphor for the convergence of art and ideas. The Museum is open to the public Tuesday–Sunday, noon–5 pm, with extended hours until 9 pm Thursday. https://tang.skidmore.edu