Busacca Gallery

This painting boasts a significant pedigree, having been commissioned by the Drucker Foundation to accompany an article by Harvard evolutionary biologist and paleontologist, Stephen Jay Gould. The artwork was required to vividly depict plant and animal life while exuding a powerful sense of "Aliveness" to captivate the viewer. Frank Ordaz was the chosen artist for this endeavor. Executed on an original oil canvas, the painting adopts an expressive and naturalistic style. Its colors are both vibrant and rich, mirroring the lively mating songs of attracting life forms as they contribute to the ongoing cycle of life. Whether in the air, on land, or in the deep waters, life persistently strives for more life and perpetual existence. The Amazon rainforest stands out as a prime battleground for survival, depicted teeming with Macaws, hummingbirds, iguanas, succulent flowers, numerous fishes, and even a seahorse. Attraction between species emerges as a crucial element that scientists are still unraveling. Questions surrounding how mates are attracted and the favorable conditions and environments for this circle of life are as diverse as the answers themselves.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalism_(arts)

Naturalism in Art is a much contested term, yet it applies to an attention to detail and placing lifeforms in their proper habitats. There are many hybrids and Frank Ordaz also uses expressive color, favored by the Impressionists, to create his lavish canvases in oil paint. There is also a trace of Realism in the classical sense where objects are carefully rendered to that they feel they occupy a space in time that is governed by a light source.