Mark Dion’s “The Conservator’s Cupboard” explores the mental and material landscape of the conservator. Referencing the traditions of the artist’s studiolo and the alchemist’s workshop, Dion has constructed for Bard Graduate Center’s lobby in 38 West 86th Street a sculptural citation of a working cupboard filled with raw materials, apparatus, and books. Dion invites viewers into the conversation between the historical questions that objects raise, and the desire to know. This installation marks the conclusion of five years of “Cultures of Conservation” at Bard Graduate Center, an initiative supported by a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Dion received a BFA and an honorary doctorate from the University of Hartford School of Art, Connecticut in 1986 and 2003, respectively. Presently, Dion is a mentor at Columbia University in New York and co-director of Mildred’s Land, an innovative visual art education and residency program in Beach Lake, Pennsylvania.

“The Conservator’s Cupboard” is on view to the public by appointment only, please email [email protected] to schedule a viewing.