Mark Lyon

Born: 1979

Hometown: Rochester, NY

Lives and Works: Hudson Valley, NY

Website: www.marklyonphotography.com

Education: MA, SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY
BA, SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY

Mark Lyon Bio

About The Artist

Mark Lyon is a photographer known for probing idealized, quintessentially American images. His Landscapes for the People series—a finalist for the Aperture Foundation's 2009 Portfolio Prize—featured wall-sized photomurals of stereotypically beautiful images of nature. Installed in situ, these massive photographic wallpapers map how images of pristine lakes, fields of flowers, and sublime mountains have become the kitsch decorations of doctors' offices and airport baggage claims. Mundane objects like X-ray machines and conveyor belts enter the frame, creating a dissonance between these escapist natural images and the tediousness of workaday existence. Lyon describes his project as a reflection of "the strange play of the functional environment and the ideal psychological landscape." Posted, another, much darker, series, documents the phenomenon of roadside wanted ads and notices for lost children and pets. By re-photographing these postings, Lyon reflects on their grim transformation from personal snapshot to a weathered public document. Lyon's work has been exhibited at venues including the Center for Photography at Woodstock and the Aperture Foundation.

Mark Lyon Permanent Collections

Select Permanent Collections

Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, NY