2. 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 prop
them up into lifelike poses.
Walton Ford is a self-described “enthusiast”
of Audubon and his style is heavily influenced
by him. There are drastic differences, how-
ever, if you look closely.
3. 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.”
4. “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.
5. 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?
6. 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?
7. You try it.
Can you take a classic style that you’ve seen before, maybe in
a museum or a book, and reuse it to say something about your
country, history, or an event that you find interesting?
