Walton Ford : Pancha Tantra

Walton Ford's watercolors of animals could be mistaken for 19th century natural science illustrations or British colonial paintings.

Except they're not. Something strange and usually sinister is happening in each of Ford's works, whether it's a wild turkey stomping on a small bird or a rabid-looking swarm of passenger pigeons ravaging a tree limb.

Though buffalo, lions, monkeys, snakes, and other such beasts populate his work, it's birds - in their reptilian primitiveness - that Ford is most attracted to.

Painted with the deft technique of a technical artist, Ford's works vibrate with an intensity of uncanny familiarity; they are both reassuring in style and disturbing in content.

With titles like "New Tricks for Ancient Wings," "Necropolis," and "Space Monkey", his paintings open the doors to a world of real-life fantasy, dreams, and nightmares - all with a stunning candor that almost belies the artist's intentions.This sumptuous book - replete with reproductions including 16 foldouts - provides an in-depth exploration of Walton Ford's oeuvre.Art Edition is an edition of 1000 copies, numbered and signed by the artist.