NEW YORK, NY.- Exquisitely drawn and joyfully off the leash, Dog Song follows two musical hounds searching for inspiration for their next album, but driven by very different instincts. David is orderly, bookish, contemplative; Jimmy is altogether more appetite-led. David sniffs out bookshops, while Jimmy prowls parks, backstreets, and the shadowy corners of Berlin’s canine underworld. What unfolds is a picaresque tale of misadventure that’s by turns scrappy and sharp.
Join their quest for the perfect filing cabinet, a run-in with guards at the Berlin Wall, and some very ill-advised drinking. Authored and exquisitely illustrated by celebrated artist Walton Ford, it takes place in a pre-unification Berlin that’s evoked with operatic flair and cinematic intensity.
Known for his large-scale watercolors that often explore violence, predation, colonial exploitation, and psychological tension, Ford draws on the precise visual language of 19th-century naturalists like John James Audubon and Karl Bodmer, repurposing the elegance of antique penmanship for contemporary storytelling. Dog-like but recognizably human, these adventures balance slapstick and poetry, the narrative hinting at deeper themes around creativity, power, survival, and natural order. It invites readers to look closely and imagine more.
Expect fights and flights, an emergency with a phone booth, and salvation from a very unexpected guardian angel. Dog Song is not only inspired by Beatrix Potter's tales but also by Iggy Pop and David Bowie's time as flatmates in the Schneberg neighborhood of West Berlin beginning in 1976. An unforgettable tale told with beauty and bite.
The artist
Walton Ford, born 1960, studied filmmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design, but soon realized he was a painter. For the last 30 years he has been creating large-scale narrative watercolors. His work has been widely exhibited, including solo shows at the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin and the Brooklyn Museum in New York.
Walton Ford. Dog Song
Hardcover, 9.1 x 12.0 in., 1.81 lb, 108 pages
ISBN 978-3-7544-0680-9
Edition: English
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