Walton Ford

Looking at the two images on the screen you might think that they were both made by the same artist.They are not. The image on the left is by John James Audubon, and the image on the right is by Walton Ford.

Audubon is famous for his documentation of American birds during the early 19th century. His work is extensive and his methods might be somewhat surprising. He killed most of his bird subjects first and then used wires to propthem up into lifelike poses.

Walton Ford is a self-described “enthusiast”of Audubon and his style is heavily influencedby him. There are drastic differences, how-ever, if you look closely.

A self described “maximalist”, his paintings often fill the canvas with detailed imagery and multiple levels of storyline. He works mainly in watercolor, but also uses oil, acrylics, and pencil. While stay-ing faithful to the style of natural history books and field guides, Ford paints on a much more enormous scale. The scenes he paints are filled with drama, “capturing moments when the natu-ral order changes, such as the last member of a species struggling just before extinction.”

“Each of Ford’s animal portraits doubles as a complex, symbol-ic system, which the artist layers with clues, jokes, and erudite lessons in colonial literature and folktales. The scenes are often violent and full of a dark humor which Ford appreciates. His life size birds and animals often serve as metaphorical stand-ins for different cultures in allegorical narratives. Extinction, greed, power, naturalism, humor, the grotesque, are all repeat-ing elements in Ford’s work.”

Ford’s importance as an artist lies in his unique ability to use his painting to comment on the human condition, the history of colonialism, and the continuing impact of slavery and other forms of political oppression on today’s social and environmental landscape.

For example, in this piece called “The Sensorium”, you can see some of the monkeys fighting, one drinking wine, one glaring mysteriously at the view-er, and all of them appear to be involved in some kind of gluttony within a landscape that resembles the African countryside. Is Ford saying something here about how European colonizers behaved? Can you find any part of the scene that might be relevant to our American culture today?

What could Ford be saying with this image called “Jack in his Deathbed”?Does the erupting volcano int he background or the environment that the animal is in make you think of anything?

You try it.

Can you take a classic style that you’ve seen before, maybe ina museum or a book, and reuse it to say something about yourcountry, history, or an event that you find interesting?

PBS.org/art21Kohngallery.com/fordPaulkasmingallery.com/artists/walton-fordWingatestudio.com/fordNymag.comNga.gov

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