The Wall of Birds
BY JANE KIM WITH THAYER WALKER, HARPER DESIGN, £30
This is a beautiful, inspiring and informative book about an astonishing and bold project. Its title refers to the artist Jane Kim’s unique creation – a huge mural that graces the worldfamous Cornell Lab of Ornithology, in Ithaca, New York State. Over a period of 17 months, she painted on this giant wall, 232 square metres in area, one representative of each of the 243 families of birds alive in the world, life-size and in full colour. All these beautiful images are reproduced in this book, interwoven with a text written in partnership with Kim’s husband, combining accurate information, artistic details and personal reflections – including the experience of developing an ‘avian Pantone’ chart as a way to reference the array of plumage colours across different species. We also get a glimpse of the early versions of Kim’s designs, offering an insight into the evolution of her work as we follow her from continent to continent, discovering more and more species along the way.
Jonathan Elphick Ornithologist