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Alexis
Rockma
n
Wolpertinger, 1992, watercolor
and ink on paper, 24 x 18 in.

Pond's Edge, 1987, oil & acrylic on

canvas, 60 x 112 in.

WHO IS HE, AND WHAT DOES

HE DO?

Alexis Rockman was born in 1962 in New York, New York. However, his work is
inspired by his travels around the world, including places like Madagascar, Brazil,
Tazmania, and Antarctica. As a child, Rockman remembers thinking he would grow up
to be a scientist. His mother was an archeologist, and he did most of his childhood
traveling with her. Today, Rockman still studies mostly outside of the studio; he has
spent weeks camping in the rainforest and once took a ship through the Antarctic
Peninsula. The content in his artwork has to do with the human manipulation of
animals, and the evolutions/adaptations they might have to undergo to live in the
environment we are destroying. Thats why its important for him to witness the
shifting of our environment and the systems (such as the American farming industry)
that we create to control the environment for our benefit. His artwork is influenced by
his love for science fiction movies (at one time, he thought hed be a filmmaker, too)

Historical Study
Rockman is known for his illustrative paintings that depict nature and its intersections with humanity.
We are confronted with dangers such as deforestation, ozone destruction, and climate change that
induces issues such as rapid glacier melting, so Rockman changes existing creatures and creates
completely new ones based on the adaptations they might have to form to survive in a dangerous
world. Rockman uses a blend of empirical fact (by talking to scientists to get real data) and fantasy,
along with his interests in art history, activism (campaigning to bring about social change), and the
natural sciences to depict damaging moments towards the ecosystem from human history, such as
the Industrial Revolution and the natural disasters we are experiencing today.
We can make connections from Rockmans animal modifications to medieval bestiaries and their
dark-age era of genetic manipulation through the illustration of fantastic beasts. In bestiaries,
exotic animals (not familiar to central Europeans) were attributed to stories that often related the
animals to early Christian morals.

Medieval bestiary illustrations of

Salamanders, pigment and gold leaf on
vellum. Salamanders were believed to
extinguish fires, because they were so icy cold
that flames could not touch them. The
salamander represented righteous people,
who can withstand fire.

Mimic, Alexis Rockman. 2008, oil and

resin on fiberglass panel, 112 x 66 in.

What do these illustrations have

in common? How are they

Structural Frame:
1. What are some animals (or their body parts) that you recognize in this
work?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Still Life, 1993, oil
2. Is there a narrative (or story) happening in this painting? Describe
theon
and laquer
wood,
68
x 80 in.
story.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Subjective Frame:
3. How does this painting make you feel? Think of descriptive adjectives.
__________________________________________________________________________
Still from After Earth, 2013.
__________________________________________________________________________
Cultural Frame:
4. In society, technological advances can be seen to further the
common good. How does Rockman present technology?
Rockman gets inspiration from science
_____________________________________________________________________
fiction movies. Even though After Earth
_____________________________________________________________________
was filmed after Rockman painting
5. Do you see any similarities between the
way Medieval
Bestiaries
Cataclysm,
they still share
imagery.
depicted animals, and the way Alexis Rockman presents animals?
Can you think of any other science________________________________________________________________________
fiction movies, or books, that Rockmans
________________________________________________________________________
artwork makes you think of?
6. How is Rockman participating in activism? What do you think his
viewers think about after seeing artwork like this?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Cataclysym, Alexis Rockman. 2002,
oil & acrylic on wood panel, 56 x 44 in.

7. What is your day-to-day interaction with animals? (pets, nature

walks, birdfeeders..etc?)
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Concrete Jungle IV, 1992, oil on

wood, 36 x 84 in.

Vocabulary:

Fantasy: imaginative fiction involving magic

and adventure, especially in a setting other
than the real world
Empirical Fact: a source of knowledge
acquired by means of observation or
experimentation.
Activism: action of using vigorous
campaigning to bring about political or social
change.
http://alexisrockman.net/projects/
http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-features/magazine/alexisrockman/

Art-Making:

Create a collages of a composite creature from magazines and printouts.

Sketch real or fantastic body parts of animals and relate those body parts to
certain functions that help them survive.