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Oral history interview with Mark Dion, 2022 October 7

Interviewee:
Dion, Mark, 1961-  Search this
Interviewer:
Markonish, Denise, 1975-  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Mark Dion, 2022 October 7. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)22194
AAA_collcode_dion22
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_22194

Colin de Land collection

Creator:
De Land, Colin, 1955-2003  Search this
Names:
American Fine Arts, Co.  Search this
Armory Show (1913: New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Art Cologne  Search this
Art Forum Berlin  Search this
Biennale di Venezia  Search this
Documenta  Search this
International Art Fair  Search this
Balk, Dennis  Search this
Beckwith, Patterson  Search this
Davey, Moyra  Search this
Dion, Mark, 1961-  Search this
Fend, Peter  Search this
Fraser, Andrea  Search this
Greene, Carol  Search this
Heilmann, Mary, 1940-  Search this
Marks, Matthew  Search this
McDonald, Daniel  Search this
Morris, Paul  Search this
Pierson, Jack, 1960-  Search this
Wadlin, Craig  Search this
Waters, John, 1946-  Search this
Extent:
15.15 Linear feet
0.901 Gigabytes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Motion pictures (visual works)
Video recordings
Date:
1968-2008, bulk 1980-2003
bulk 1980-2003
Summary:
The Colin de Land collection measures 15.15 linear feet and 0.901 GB and dates from 1968 to 2008, with the bulk of the collection dating from the early 1980s through 2003. The majority of the collection consists of photographic material, primarily snapshots, documenting daily life in and around de Land's gallery American Fine Arts, Co., as well as de Land's pesonal life and affairs. There are candid photographs of exhibition openings, day-to-day gallery operations, art fairs, vacations, social gatherings, and New York City street scenes. Also included are some personal objects belonging to de Land and his wife Pat Hearn, as well as two scrapbooks containing items once decorating the walls of de Land's office at American Fine Arts. The collection includes video recordings documenting trips to Cape Cod, Hearn's illness, and occasional art world events.
Scope and Contents:
The Colin de Land collection measures 15.15 linear feet and 0.901 GB and dates from 1968 to 2008, with the bulk of the collection dating from the early 1980s through 2003. The majority of the collection consists of photographic material, primarily snapshots, documenting daily life in and around de Land's gallery American Fine Arts, Co., as well as de Land's pesonal life and affairs. There are candid photographs of exhibition openings, day-to-day gallery operations, art fairs, vacations, social gatherings, and New York City street scenes. Also included are some personal objects belonging to de Land and his wife Pat Hearn, as well as two scrapbooks containing items once decorating the walls of de Land's office at American Fine Arts. The collection includes video recordings documenting trips to Cape Cod, Hearn's illness, and occasional art world events.

The bulk of the collection consists of snapshots, along with their negatives and the envelopes provided by commercial photographic printers. The envelopes are sometimes annotated. The photographs, not typically identified by photographer, were taken by de Land, Hearn, and gallery employees, artists, and visitors. Most of the snapshots provide a candid record of life within de Land's circle, and not formal documentation of gallery exhibitions.

The figures in this collection often occupied blurred boundaries between artist, gallery employee, critic, and friend. Many of the photographs include AFA staff, including Daniel McDonald, Patterson Beckwith, and Craig Wadlin. Also of note are photos showing AFA artists, including John Waters, Mark Dion, Andrea Fraser, Moyra Davey, Dennis Balk, Peter Fend, and Jack Pierson.

In addition to life within the gallery, de Land's cameras also documented a larger art world of the era, candidly showing openings at other galleries, art fairs such as Art Basel, Art Cologne, and the Berlin Artforum, as well as festivals including the Venice Biennale and Documenta, many of which included AFA artists. There is some documentation of the Gramercy International Contemporary Art Fair and The Armory Show. The photographs frequently include de Land and Hearn's friends and fellow art dealers Paul Morris, Matthew Marks, and Carol Greene. Some images include artists that showed at Pat Hearn Art Gallery, such as Mary Heilmann. Collectors, celebrity visitors to the gallery, and critics also occasionally appear in the photographs. There is one 1968 photograph of de Land's mother and a small number of 1970s images of both de Land and Hearn.

In addition to the snapshots, there are a variety of other photographic formats, including digital, in the collection. The contents of the slides are of similar nature to the snapshots. The contact sheet binders offer some formal exhibition installation documentation, but are not exhaustive.

The collection also includes film and video footage. Thirty-five reels of Super-8 motion picture film primarily documents frequent vacations to Cape Cod, as well as the final stages of Hearn's illness and subsequent death. The 31 DV-mini cassettes include similar content, and some footage of opening receptions and other art world events.

Most of the official gallery records are missing, most likely lost in the frequent floods in the gallery basement. Two scrapbooks include material that was often photographed on the walls surrounding de Land's desk at AFA. Additional artifacts include one small painting by artist Charles Clough, inscribed to Hearn, a baseball hat frequently worn by de Land and appearing in many of the snapshots, and one page of an autographed calendar.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in 4 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Photographic Material, 1968-2003, bulk 1980-2003 (14 linear feet; Box 1-14, 0.901 GB; ER01)

Series 2: Scrapbooks, circa 1980s-2003 (0.2 linear feet; Box 19)

Series 3: Video and Film Recordings, circa 1980-2003 (1.1 linear feet; Box 15, 16, 18)

Series 4: Artifacts, 1988-2008 (0.3 linear feet; Box 14, 17, 19)
Biographical / Historical:
Colin de Land (1955-2003) was a gallery owner whose New York City spaces challenged traditional modes of exhibition and art dealing.

Raised in Union City, New Jersey, de Land came to the art world from an academic background, having studied philosophy and linguistics at New York University. In 1984, de Land opened Vox Populi, a largely unrenovated space in the East Village, at 511 East 6th Street. The gallery showed experimental work by emerging artists, including the enigmatic John Dogg, thought to be a collaboration between de Land and artist Richard Prince.

In 1986, De Land opened his longest standing gallery, American Fine Arts, Co. (AFA), in the same space previously occupied by Vox Populi. The gallery moved to SoHo in 1988, first to 40 Wooster Street then to 22 Wooster Street in 1993. During the late 1990s, as most SoHo galleries moved to Chelsea, AFA remained a mainstay of the downtown arts scene. De Land's wife, Pat Hearn, whom he married in 1999 after over a decade together, was also a well known art dealer. Her gallery, Pat Hearn Art Gallery, also moved from the East Village to SoHo, later becoming one of the first to set down roots in Chelsea.

Known for his eccentric fashion and unorthodox business style, de Land cultivated a culture of experimentation within the AFA community. He typically hired young art students or recent graduates, often nurturing their own artistic careers. Along with a group of Cooper Union graduates, many of whom worked at the gallery, he founded the artist collective Art Club 2000. De Land often showed artists working in hybrid media, for example film and photography or music and installation. He was especially interested in ecological and environmental art, as well as work that took as its subject exhibition practice and the act of creating art. He often staged large thematic group shows. Artists who showed at the gallery included Mark Dion, John Waters, Andrea Fraser, Moyra Davey, Dennis Balk, Peter Fend, Tom Burr, James Welling, Mariko Mori, Dan Graham, Jessica Stockholder, Alex Bag, Christian Philipp Muller, and Jack Pierson.

In 1994, de Land and Hearn, along with gallerists Matthew Marks and Paul Morris, established the Gramercy International Contemporary Art Fair. Fashioned after the tradition of inexpensive hotel art fairs, four galleries were invited to exhibit artwork in rooms of the Gramercy Park Hotel, to be sold in a cash and carry model. The fair became an annual event, branching out to other cities, including Miami and Los Angeles, and growing significantly in size in New York. It later became known as The Armory Show.

De Land often carried a point-and-shoot camera and kept several on hand in the gallery. He documented opening receptions, art world social gatherings, concerts, and day-to-day happenings and invited visitors to the gallery and employees to do the same.

After Hearn's death from liver cancer in 2000, de Land became involved with Kembra Pfahler, the performance artist and leader of the rock band The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black. De Land took over Hearn's Chelsea gallery, operating it as a second location of AFA. Following his own struggle with cancer, de Land passed away in 2003. AFA remained open, closing at the end of 2004 with a tribute group exhibition to de Land.
Related Materials:
The archival gallery records of Colin de Land's art gallery American Fine Arts, Co. as well as the gallery records of the Pat Hearn Gallery are available at the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College in New York. The gallery records there also include a fair amount of de Land's personal papers. Bard also acquired de Land's and Hearn's personal library.
Provenance:
The Colin de Land papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2008 by Dennis Balk, an artist represented by American Fine Arts, Co. and a close friend of de Land.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.

Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Motion pictures (visual works)
Video recordings
Citation:
Colin de Land papers, 1968-2008, bulk 1980-2003. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.delacoli
See more items in:
Colin de Land collection
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9f9da47c1-bd20-49da-8477-4f57e4a58874
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-delacoli
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Mark Dion

Interviewee:
Dion, Mark, 1961-  Search this
Interviewer:
Markonish, Denise  Search this
Extent:
13 Items (sound files (3 hrs., 5 min.), digital, wav)
64 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Date:
2022 October 7
Scope and Contents:
An interview with Mark Dion conducted 2022 October 7, by Denise Markonish for the Archives of American Art, at Dion's home and studio in Copake, NY.­
Biographical / Historical:
Mark Dion (1961- ) is a conceptual artist in Copake, New York whose installations often address the history of scientific thought and critical inquiry.

Denise Markonish (1975- ) is the chief curator of MASS MoCA, where she has worked since 2007.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its Oral History Program interviews available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. Quotation, reproduction and publication of the recording is governed by restrictions. If an interview has been transcribed, researchers must quote from the transcript. If an interview has not been transcribed, researchers must quote from the recording. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Conceptual artists -- New York (State)  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Identifier:
AAA.dion22
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9831f77c8-d566-4fbb-9081-a16087b133d0
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-dion22

Fragile Earth the naturalist impulse in contemporary art Jennifer Stettler Parsons ; with contributions by Jennifer Angus, Mark Dion, James Prosek, Courtney Mattison, Jane Lubchenco

Author:
Angus, Jennifer 1961-  Search this
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Lubchenco, Jane  Search this
Mattison, Courtney 1985-  Search this
Prosek, James 1975-  Search this
Parsons, Jennifer Stettler Fragile Earth  Search this
Host institution:
Florence Griswold Museum  Search this
Physical description:
120 pages color illustrations 28 cm
Type:
Exhibitions
Expositions
Exhibition catalogs
Date:
2019
21st century
21e siècle
Topic:
Human ecology in art  Search this
Art, Modern  Search this
Écologie humaine dans l'art  Search this
Art  Search this
Art and Design  Search this
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_1157619

RN : the past, present and future of the nurses' uniform / Mark Dion and J. Morgan Puett in collaboration with the Fabric Workshop and Museum

Title:
Past, present and future of the nurses' uniform
Author:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Puett, J. Morgan  Search this
Oatman, Michael  Search this
Houweling, Lynn  Search this
Kerr, Iain  Search this
Fabric Workshop and Museum  Search this
University of Pennsylvania Center for the Study of the History of Nursing  Search this
Subject:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Puett, J. Morgan  Search this
Physical description:
72 p. : ill. ; 25 cm
Type:
Exhibitions
Date:
2003
C2003
Topic:
Nurses--Uniforms--History  Search this
Nurses--Uniforms  Search this
Nurses--Uniforms--Design  Search this
Call number:
N6537.D54 A4 2003a
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_741096

Concrete jungle / edited by Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman

Author:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Rockman, Alexis 1962-  Search this
Physical description:
219 p. : ill., map ; 25 cm
Type:
Books
Date:
1996
C1996
Topic:
Environmentalism  Search this
Environmental degradation  Search this
Ecology  Search this
Nature--Effect of human beings on  Search this
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_897630

Cabinet of curiosities : Mark Dion and the university as installation / Colleen J. Sheehy, editor

Author:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Sheehy, Colleen J (Colleen Josephine) 1953-  Search this
Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum  Search this
Subject:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
University of Minnesota  Search this
Physical description:
xiv, 107 p., [24] p. of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 26 cm
Type:
Exhibitions
Place:
Minnesota
Minneapolis
Date:
2006
C2006
Topic:
Cabinets of curiosities  Search this
Site-specific installations (Art)  Search this
Museum techniques  Search this
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_835684

Mark Dion : the great Munich bug hunt

Title:
Great Munich bug hunt
Wunderkammer
Author:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
K-raum Daxer (Organization)  Search this
Subject:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Physical description:
1 v. (unpaged) : ill. ; 26 cm
Type:
Books
Exhibitions
Downtown writers
Date:
1993
[1993]
Call number:
N6537.D54 A4 1993
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_786175

Ecologies : Mark Dion, Peter Fend, Dan Peterman

Author:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Fend, Peter  Search this
Peterman, Dan 1960-  Search this
David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art  Search this
Subject:
Fend, Peter  Search this
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Peterman, Dan 1960-  Search this
Physical description:
144 p. : ill. 23 cm
Type:
Exhibitions
Place:
United States
Date:
2001
Topic:
Installations (Art)  Search this
Human ecology in art  Search this
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_798824

Mark Dion : encyclomania / editors: Andreas Baur and Stephan Berg

Author:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Baur, Andreas  Search this
Berg, Stephan  Search this
Subject:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Physical description:
124 p. : col. ill. ; 25 cm
Type:
Exhibitions
Date:
2003
Topic:
Installations (Art)  Search this
Nature (Aesthetics)  Search this
Call number:
N6537.D54 A4 2003b
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_797842

Polar Bear and Toucans (From Amazonas to Svalbard), (sculpture)

Sculptor:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Medium:
Stuffed toy polar bear, Sony Sports cassette player, cassette recorded in Venezuela-Amazonas territory, wash tub, tar, crate, and orange electric cord
Type:
Sculptures
Owner/Location:
Anonymous Collection
Date:
1991
Topic:
Animal--Bear  Search this
Object--Furniture--Radio  Search this
Control number:
IAS 71500906
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_410901

The Great Munich Bug Hunt, (sculpture)

Sculptor:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Medium:
Tree, collecting cabinet, specimens, and lab equipment
Type:
Sculptures
Owner/Location:
Anonymous Collection
Date:
1993
Topic:
Architecture interior--Science--Laboratory  Search this
Landscape--Tree  Search this
Figure group  Search this
Occupation--Science  Search this
Animal--Insect  Search this
Control number:
IAS 71500902
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_410897

The Curiosity Shop, (sculpture)

Sculptor:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Medium:
Mixed media
Type:
Sculptures
Date:
2005
Topic:
Architecture exterior--Commercial--Store  Search this
Control number:
IAS 71500893
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_410888

Rescue Archaeology, A Project for The Museum of Modern Art, (sculpture)

Sculptor:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Medium:
Mixed media
Type:
Sculptures
Owner/Location:
Anonymous Collection
Date:
2005
Topic:
Allegory--Arts & Sciences--Archaeology  Search this
Control number:
IAS 71500914
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_411542

Neukom Vivarium, (sculpture)

Sculptor:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Medium:
Mixed media, greenhouse structure
Type:
Sculptures
Sculptures-Outdoor Sculpture
Owner/Location:
Administered by Seattle Art Museum 100 University Street Seattle Washington 98101 Accession Number: 2007.1
Located Olympic Sculpture Park Elliott Avenue & Broad Street Seattle Washington
Date:
2004-2006
Topic:
Architecture--Other--Greenhouse  Search this
Control number:
IAS 71500891
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_410886

Toys 'R' U.S. (When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth), (sculpture)

Sculptor:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Medium:
Children's bed, desk, chair, bedside table, television, audiotape, dinosaur bedside lamp, toys, cereal, wallpaper, posters, stencils, inflatable Tyrannosaurus Rex, calendar, pennant, bedspread, pillow, slippers, clothing, wastepaper basket, umbrellas, games, plastic figurines, books, framed picture, videos, baseball cap, fan, bulletin board, postcards, pencils and pens, pencil holder, book bag, rug, stuffed animals, cup and straw, and assorted other dinosaur memorabilia
Type:
Sculptures
Owner/Location:
Anonymous Collection
Date:
1994
Topic:
Architecture interior--Domestic--House  Search this
Architecture interior--Domestic--Bedroom  Search this
Animal--Cat  Search this
Control number:
IAS 71500901
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_410896

The Library for the Birds of Antwerp, (sculpture)

Sculptor:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Medium:
Eighteen African finches, tree, ceramic tiles, books, photographs, bird cages, bird traps, chemical containers,rat and snake in liquid, shot gun shells, axe, nets, Audubon prints, bird nests, wax fruit, and assorted objects, dimensions variable
Type:
Sculptures
Owner/Location:
Anonymous Collection
Date:
1993
Topic:
Landscape--Tree  Search this
Animal--Bird  Search this
Control number:
IAS 71500903
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_410898

Vivarium, (sculpture)

Sculptor:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Medium:
Maple log, soil, aluminum, tempered glass, wood, and ceramic tile
Type:
Sculptures
Owner/Location:
Anonymous Collection
Date:
2002
Topic:
Architecture--Other--Greenhouse  Search this
Control number:
IAS 71500909
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_411537

Providence Cabinet, (sculpture)

Sculptor:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Medium:
Hand built cabinets with mahogany finsh, 4 glass topped drawers, 2 glass doors with locks, and 3 lower cabinet doors with finds from Providence Dig
Type:
Sculptures
Owner/Location:
Anonymous Collection
Date:
2001
Topic:
Object--Furniture--Cabinet  Search this
Control number:
IAS 71500908
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_411536

Tate Thames Dig, (sculpture)

Sculptor:
Dion, Mark 1961-  Search this
Medium:
Mixed media
Type:
Sculptures
Sculptures-Temporary
Sculptures-Site-specific
Owner/Location:
Tate Gallery Millbank London England SW1P 4RG
Date:
1999
Topic:
Abstract  Search this
Control number:
IAS 71500896
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_410891

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