The Life of a Dead Tree

The Pest Edition signed by Mark Dion

MOCA’s first edition, which has been produced as a fundraiser for the museum, features a series of works included in this summer’s exhibition The Life of a Dead Tree by Mark Dion.

Signed by Mark Dion, the prints illustrate six of the most damaging invasive insects that are currently affecting the life expectancy of trees and other plant species across North America.

The Emerald Ash Borer is thought to be the primary culprit of the death of the white ash tree on display at the museum. It was first identified in North America in 2002 and since then its presence has caused the demise of millions of ash trees.

The six illustrations are screen printed on Stonehenge cotton paper and feature:

• Emerald Ash Borer
• Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
• Asian Long-horned Beetle
• European Elm Bark Beetle
• Sirex Woodwasp
• European Gypsy Moth

To produce this series of editions Mark Dion worked with local illustrator Matthew Wells and Sterling Rd. artist and screen printer Jesse Purcell of Repetitive Press.

About Mark Dion

Trees and forests have long populated Dion’s imagination and a particular body of production. He is well-known for artworks that question how we experience, study, display and think about the natural world.  

Dion has received numerous awards, including the ninth annual Larry Aldrich Foundation Award (2001) The Joan Mitchell Foundation Award (2007) and the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Lucida Art Award (2008). His work was included in dOCUMENTA 13 and he has had major exhibitions at museums including, the Miami Art Museum; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and in London at Tate Modern and the Natural History Museum. In 2006, Neukom Vivarium, a permanent outdoor installation and learning lab for the Olympic Sculpture Park, was commissioned by the Seattle Art Museum. Opening on May 4, 2019, Storm King Art Center will present Mark Dion: Follies, the first exhibition to unite Mark Dion’s signature folly works into a major survey.

The Life of a Dead Tree is on view at MOCA until July 28.