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Tumultuous, expansive, inspirational - the past 10 years have had their ups and downs. How have contemporary artists reacted to the news of the day?
Art's relationship to its time is inherently complex. No matter what the particular subject at hand - be it social upheaval, the environment, mass media, or identity - today's art is layered with influences, sources and ideas. Loathe to be pinned down, contemporary artists serve no master, religion or propaganda, as they most often did in past centuries. Positioning themselves on the very edge of expression, the artists presented here pose questions and create new forms that open up ways of thinking and viewing the world.
--Wesley Miller, Associate Curator, Art21
Change
1
Climate
Gender and Sexuality
Race
4
Celebrity
War
6
Empire
Extinction
8
Torture
"You can destroy nature if you have too many people who love it, all trampling around at the same time. I've seen it happen." —Jane Goodall, Bill Moyers The Journal: Jane Goodall (2009)
Blending depictions of natural history with political commentary, Walton Ford’s meticulous paintings satirize the history of colonialism and often employ images of endangered or extinct species to craft parables of human exploitation and excess. Each painting is as much a tutorial in flora and fauna as it is as a scathing indictment of the wrongs committed by colonialists in the nineteenth century up to events of the present day.
Walton Ford is featured in the Season 2 (2003) episode of Art in the Twenty-First Century, Humor.
Excerpt from the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 2 (2003) episode, Humor.
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