Mark Dion was welcomed as an artist in residence at the Atelier Calder from January to June 2005.

Born in 1961 in the United States (New Bedford Massachusetts), he lives and works in Beach Lake Pennsylvania.

His work makes explicit reference to curio collections, and takes inspiration from the history of museums, he does not speak directly to nature, but the idea of nature.

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For several years, Mark Dion has worked to deconstruct and divert visual codes and ideologies that constitute our knowledge and experience of nature. For this, he bases his work on the precise study of modes of nature representation in scientific and cultural institutions, such as natural history museums and zoos.

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At the Atelier Calder, Mark Dion has produced several works, some of which were on view at the Chateau of Chambord for the exhibition "Chassez le Naturel" (June 25 - November 3, 2005), within the larger setting of the exhibition "Les Visiteurs". Concurrently he mounted a solo exhibition at the Chateau of Oiron (June 26 - September 25, 2005), one work from which now figures in the permanent collection, "Sleeping Bear". A catalogue has been put together in a partnership between the Chateau of Oiron and the Atelier Calder, "Dungeon of the Sleeping Bear, the Phantom Forest, the Birds of Guam", 2005.