Anyways, this artists name is Walton Ford and he has rapidly become one of my favorite artists. This isn't just because of the skill in which he manipulates his materials, it is largely because of the multitude of meanings that his paintings hint at. At first glance it just seems that the subject matter in each work is an animal of some sort, or a grouping of animals. When looked at closely however these large scale water color paintings tell a different story. These paintings have details the satirize colonialism's history as well as the impact of slavery and other political subjects. Some images contain folktales, jokes, and high brow lessons in colonial literature! The key to understanding these slants and metaphors is in deciphering the clues he has included with the animals in the paintings. He says that his work contains animals in human culture, animals within the human mind.
This first image is from his exhibition "Bestiarum". It does an excellent job visually explaining his whole concept of animals in human culture. Here we have a group of monkeys, the closest thing genetically to human beings, fighting over table scraps and generally creating a big mess in the process. There are monkeys sitting on the table eating, sneaking food from the others, there is even one monkey who appears to be reading as he sits in a chair at the head of the table. Parts of this are very humanistic, such as the monkey reading the paper. Other parts show a much more animalistic nature which I believe comments on the unrefined side of human beings. The table manners get more and more out of control as you go down the table and see they are literally ripping off the table cloth and knocking each other over!
I like this image because of that mix between humanity and wilderness. The pillar in the background with the terrace make this seem like a more refined setting which completely offsets the chaos at the dinner table. Most of the colors he uses are earthy with the exception of the table cloth which stands out sharply against the tan and brown and green seen throughout the rest of the painting. Also, the fact that this was done in water color is astounding to me. I have always had a bit of trouble with water color. My paintings turn out nicely but they don't look like I've used watercolor because I don't use them the way they should be used. Water colors are suppose to be layered over and over and I don't have the patience. I just go. Sometimes I might have a couple layers here and there of color but usually I just go at it and what happens happens! So it never fails to impress me when I find an artist who can use water color to this extent.
The second painting I've chosen is one titled Nila. Very obviously it is a painting of an elephant! The musculature of the elephant seems true to its living counter part. Even the textures of both hide and ivory are fairly realistic. The one thing that strays from realism is the enormity of the beast. It's size seems to be exaggerated by the surrounding birds and even the ground that it stands on. The elephant stands a lone giant in a world filled with small feathered mammals. The background is understated, just an off white sky set above cracked brown dirt with hints of grass peaking up here and there. The work is also divided in a unique way. Each different species of bird is separated from the others by being placed in its own specific box within the piece. It is as if each is its own composition within the greater composition of the elephant.
As for the hints that make this painting more than just an illustration of different mammals! The elephant, who could be a symbol for India or Africa seeing as that their Native territory, is being swarmed by all of these different species of birds. However, none of those birds are the type that one would normally see picking flies and other bugs off of the hide of the elephant. They are birds that would be found in the west, and in effect they are parasites. This could in turn suggest that the west has become a parasite to lands such as India and Africa. These small details create a story and are why I love his work so much.
The third and final image that I've chosen of Walton Ford's is called Falling Bough. Here again there are a multitude of birds. At the forefront you can actually discern one bird from another to an extent, keeping in mind that this image is much much larger than it appears! The farther back into the image you get however the birds become much less apparent and the focus becomes this roiling turmoil of motion. The whole image gives off a distressed feeling, even the small branch seen in the left hand corner of the image is broken off. The colors of the image are all mostly dark and subdued with the exception of the few birds distinguished in the foreground helping to carry the fallen bough of the tree.
This image was mainly about the artists disgust with enormous number of passenger pigeons that use to populate the planet. He blames the birds in this case, making them the destroyers of the tree branch that they have broken under their weight. He emphasizes that as they carry away the bough they continue their constant bickering and picking and fluttering about without a care in the world as to what they are destroying in their path. As I had mentioned the branch in the corner also appears to be broken, at closer glance it is evident that the artist has also carried out his theme in this small area of the painting by placing a bird on the broken bough. The branches are again being broken by the weight of the pointless nattering birds.
These are just a few of my favorites of the images that Walton Ford has come up with. They impress me in color, size, and accuracy as well as in meaning. Many of these paintings are over 18 feet tall! Sometimes I feel I don't look into other artists often enough and his work has proven to me how much that has to change!
Anywho, I will post later about the online project as well as some sketch book ideas etc. I'm hoping to have the online project finished tonight! See you later blogger land!
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