Walton Ford
dal 22/1/2010 al 5/6/2010
Segnalato da
22/1/2010
Walton Ford
Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin
The various tigers, lions, birds and primates that populate his life-size pictures appear as vivacious protagonists locked in allegorical struggles. The resulting combination of historical fact, natural history inquiry and surreal imaginings give rise to Ford's brilliant 'Bestiarium'. The artist conscientiously presents himself as an outsider in the contemporary art world through his body of work, which stands out today as truly singular.
Curators:
Udo Kittelmann, Direktor der Nationalgalerie
Dr. Britta Schmitz, Kuratorin der Ausstellung
A troop of monkeys celebrate a feast, a panther wanders across a snowy Alpine
landscape and a pack of white wolves surround a buffalo dripping blood in a
manicured French garden. At first glance Walton Ford’s large-scale animal
watercolour paintings evoke prints by French and British colonial-era illustrators
from the 19th century. After closer examination however, they reveal a pictorial
universe of complex and disturbing allusions. The various tigers, lions, birds and
primates that populate the life-size pictures appear as vivacious protagonists
locked in allegorical struggles. The resulting combination of historical fact,
natural history inquiry and surreal imaginings give rise to Walton Ford’s brilliant
'Bestiarium’.
Walton Ford was born in 1960 in Larchmont in the state of New York and now
lives in the mountains of The Berkshires in Massachusetts. Even from an early
age, the various exhibits in the Museum of Natural History in New York held a
fascination over the artist. In particular, Ford embarked on an intimate study of
the works of the US American ornithologist and drawer of animals, John James
Audubon (1785–1851). Since the 1990s Walton Ford’s search for finding
analogies between the past and the present day has led to a series of pictures,
in which he superimposes intricate natural history depictions with current
perceptions and critical commentaries. In his works, which can be seen as
satires on political oppression and the exploitation of the environment, he casts
doubt on the adage of the 'ever new’ and the 'ever better’ that has held sway
ever since the Renaissance. At the same time he raises questions on a diverse
range of set expectations and established rules in contemporary aesthetics. In
glorious colour, his pictures open up a view of a reality that we have long since
suppressed or forgotten and, with a haunting strength of imagination, a present
day 'Bestiarium’ unfurls before our eyes.
The artist conscientiously presents himself as an outsider in the contemporary
art world through his body of work, which stands out today as truly singular and
has already garnered great attention in the USA. For the first time ever, his
pictures are now to go on display in Europe. The exhibition in the Hamburger
Bahnhof has been made possible by the Verein der Freunde der
Nationalgalerie. Following on from the show in Berlin, the pictures will go on
display in the Albertina in Vienna.
Walton Ford: Pancha Tantra, published by Taschen, 2009
Bill Buford and Walton Ford. Hardcover, 28 x 37,5 cm, 320 pages
Multilingual: German, English, French. 49,99 Euro
An exhibition of the Nationalgalerie, Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, made possible by the
Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie.
Image: The Sensorium, 2003. Aquarell, Gouache, Tinte und Bleistift auf Papier 152.4 x 302.3 cm © Walton Ford
Press Contact Exhibition
Dr. Katharina von Chlebowski - Theresa Lucius
T +49 30 26394880 F +49 30 263948811 presse@waltonford.org
Press Contact
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Mechtild Kronenberg Presse, comunication, Sponsoring kommunikation@smb.spk-berlin.de
Anne Schäfer-Junker Presse presse@smb.spk-berlin.de
Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin
Invalidenstraße 50–51 - 10557 Berlin
Opening Hours:
Tues–Fri 10 am – 6 pm
Sat 11 am – 8 pm
Sun 11 am – 6 pm
Admission:
Walton Ford – Bestiarium 8 Euro / 4 Euro
Collections and Walton Ford 12 Euro / 6 Euro