More on Walton Ford

I wrote about Walton Ford early in Homer's start.I'm a huge fan of Mr.Ford and can't wait to see his new pieces now on exhibition at the Paul Kasmin Gallery through December 23rd.

Previous post included below.




Talent will out. I've recently been exposed to the great artist Walton Ford by Habitually Chic. I'm just surprised that I was unaware of his work, as it of a subject and genre that I have always loved. He will be exhibiting his work at the Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York from May 8 to July 3, 2008. I highly recommend seeing this work if you have the chance. While I might question the political undertones of these pieces, I cannot get over the sheer talent before my eyes and that always wins out.

From Artist 21, " Walton Ford was born in 1960 in Larchmont, New York. Ford graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with the intention of becoming a filmmaker, but later adapted his talents as a storyteller to his unique style of large-scale watercolor. Blending depictions of natural history with political commentary, Ford’s meticulous paintings satirize the history of colonialism and the continuing impact of slavery and other forms of political oppression on today’s social and environmental landscape. Each painting is as much a tutorial in flora and fauna as it is as a scathing indictment of the wrongs committed by nineteenth-century industrialists or, locating the work in the present, contemporary American consumer society. An enthusiast of the watercolors of John James Audubon, Ford celebrates the myth surrounding the renowned naturalist-painter while simultaneously repositioning him as an infamous anti-hero who, in reality, killed more animals than he ever painted. Each of Ford’s animal portraits doubles as a complex, symbolic system, which the artist layers with clues, jokes, and erudite lessons in colonial literature and folktales. Walton Ford is the recipient of several national awards and honors including a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Ford’s work has been featured at Bowdoin College Museum of Art, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art at Champion, and the Forum for Contemporary Art in St. Louis. After living in New York City for more than a decade, Walton Ford relocated his studio to Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Ford and his family reside in upstate New York."









From an earlier post, compare his work. It's an obvious evolution of a style I much admire.

I recently stumbled upon the University of Glasgow's Special Collections website and proceeded to spend a few hours gazing at the most beautiful old prints. Here you will find a selection of groundbreaking and wonderfully illustrated natural history books, from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries. All I could think of was covering my walls with some of these fantastic illustrations. I've selected just few to give you an idea of what a great resource this collection is for ideas and an appreciation of truly great art.Though I must say that I've always loved Turtles.