Mark Dion was born in New Bedford, MA, and received a B.F.A. (1986) and an honorary doctorate (2003) from the University of Hartford School of Art, Connecticut. Dion creates works that question the distinctions between objective scientific methods and subjective influences. The artist’s often fantastical curiosity cabinets, modeled on Wunderkabinetts of the 16th century, exalt atypical orderings of objects and specimens. Dion has received numerous awards, including the ninth annual Larry Aldrich Foundation Award (2001), the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award (2005), the Lucelia Award from the Smithsonian Museum of American Art (2008), and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2019). He has had major solo exhibitions at the Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, NY (2019); the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (2017); the Whitechapel Gallery, London, England (2018); the Academy of Fine Arts Design, Dresden, Germany (2014); Museum Het Domein, Sittard, the Netherlands (2013); Musée Océanographique de Monaco (2011); the Oakland Museum of California (2010–2011); the Natural History Museum, London, England (2007); the Miami Art Museum (2006); the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2004); and the Tate Gallery, London (1999). His work has also been the subject of numerous other publications, including Mark Dion: Contemporary Artist (Phaidon Press, 1997), Mark Dion: Concerning Hunting (Hatje Cantz, 2008), and The Marvelous Museum: Orphans, Curiosities & Treasures: A Mark Dion Project (Chronicle Books, 2010). Represented by Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in New York City, Dion divides his time between New York and Pennsylvania.