Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman with Dr. Julie Reiss

Artist Mark Dion’s work examines the way dominant ideologies and public institutions shape our understandings of history, knowledge, and the natural world. The job of the artist, he says, is to go against the grain of dominant culture, to challenge perception and convention. Appropriating archaeological, field ecology and other scientific methods of collecting, ordering, and exhibiting objects, Dion creates works that question the distinctions between ‘objective’ (‘rational’) scientific methods and ‘subjective’ (‘irrational’) influences. Dions holds a BFA and an honorary doctorate from the University of Hartford School of Art, Connecticut. He is a cofounder and co-director of Mildred’s Lane. He was born in New Bedford, MA in 1961.

Alexis Rockman is a painter of landscapes and ecological concerns. His work has been shown widely, Notable solo museum exhibitions include the touring exhibition Alexis Rockman: The Great Lakes Cycle at Grand Rapids Art Museum (2018) and Alexis Rockman: Manifest Destiny at the Brooklyn Museum (2004).

Art historian Julie Reiss focuses on artistic responses to the climate crisis. She has spoken on related panels including “Shifting Domains: Artists Respond to the Threatened Ecological Commons" (Marfa Ballroom Dialogues), and “Landscape and Anthropocene” (College Art Association), among others. She is the editor of the anthology Art, Theory and Practice in the Anthropocene. In 2019 she organized the symposium “The Role of Art in the Environmental Crisis” held at Christie’s Education, and was the guest critic on the same theme for The Brooklyn Rail. She is also the author of From Margin to Center: The Spaces of Installation Art. She was previously director of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Market, an accredited MA program at Christie’s Education.