Abstract
Long before fantasy fiction was ‘a thing’, and The Hobbit and Game of Thrones popularised mythical beasts on screens around the world, Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges compiled his own bestiary, The Book of Imaginary Beings, brimful with fabulous animals. They were ‘fabulous’, of course, because they were the stuff of fables – often based on tales from long ago and far away. Mythical creatures of imagination.
Authors of these works followed centuries’ long traditions of itemising, illustrating and cataloguing beasts – a bestiary – showcasing natural history and a succession of animals that appeared real but unreal, preposterous yet frightening, or sometimes even whimsical. Their origins were steeped in the literature and mythology of many countries and cultures.
As the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic loomed earlier this year, and life slowed, Melbourne artist Juan Ford chose to channel his emotions into creating a world of mythical creatures. He had found Borges’ stories ‘wildly imaginative’; they opened up ‘alternate worlds’ and inspired him to bring 60 of Borges’ imaginary beings to life. These small works formed the basis of his recent exhibition, ‘The Beast and the Bestiary’. Ford also created a particularly Australian beast – The Walker, our cover art for this issue of the Journal – as a dog-like creature sculpted from eucalyptus leaves and the odd gumnut.
Pausing momentarily, with its paws entangled in a scattering of 20th century urban detritus and silhouetted against a desolate end-of-world backdrop, The Walker appears steadfast, purposeful and noble. The viewer is left to speculate whether the image came into being as a result of life in a COVID world. As Ford explains: ‘It’s a small response to living through a pandemic, and a reminder that nature is us, and we are a momentary expression of it.’
Juan Ford has exhibited extensively both in Australia and internationally, including recent solo exhibitions at the Palazzo Bembo in Venice 2017, at Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong 2019 and the Nakanojo Biennale Gunma Prefecture 2015. Major group exhibitions include The Daejeon Museum of Art Korea 2015, Bendigo Art Gallery’s Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize 2019, Art Stage Singapore, the National Portrait Gallery Canberra 2014 and the inaugural opening of Queensland Art Gallery/GOMA. Ford has received numerous commissions, prestigious international awards and residencies across Australia, Italy and in the US.
The Walker
2020 by Juan Ford
Oil on linen
150 cm × 180 cm
Courtesy the artist and THIS IS NO FANTASY
